First Baptist Church welcomes Ousley for revival services

By Staff
John Hicks FCT Staff Writer
Evangelist Rick Ousley, an Alabama native and the former pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, is coming to First Baptist Church of Russellville next week.
Ousley will lead a series of revival services that begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday and continue through Wednesday.
Born in Montgomery and raised in Calera, Ousley graduated from Samford University as a religion major in 1975. He served as the senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham for 15 years. During Ousley's tenure as pastor, church membership grew from 37 to over 4,000.
Before coming to The Church at Brook Hills, Ousley served on staff at First Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, and at North Phoenix Baptist Church, Phoenix, Ariz., where he served as associate pastor. Ousley also spent five years in full-time evangelism.
Ousley has long been in great demand as a guest speaker at evangelism conferences, leadership conferences, youth camps and churches across America. Recently, he entered into a new chapter of his career, devoting all of his energies to his traveling ministry.
"I'm going to go anywhere and do anything I can to be a part of Kingdom work," Ousley told "The Alabama Baptist" last year.
The evangelist has battled health problems that resulted in two brain surgeries. Ousley was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation, a mass of arteries and veins growing together inside his brain. He experienced a massive aneurysm last spring.
"It's a challenging time, but that's when the blessings come," said Ousley.
Ousley's current ministry has four main areas of focus: Investing himself in young pastors, reaching out to youth, traveling to the missions field, and working to break down the racial, social, economic and denominational barriers that separate Christians.
By focusing his life on these areas, Ousley said it will be easier for him to balance his time between work and family.
"For too long, my family has gotten leftovers from me, because I've been so caught up in the task at hand," Ousley told the Brook Hills congregation when he announced his resignation. "This was the most difficult decision I've ever had to make in my life but I know it's right."
The revival schedule at FBC of Russellville is: