The Rev. Dr. Nelson Price, a religious leader and staple in the Cobb County community, has died at the age of 94, according to Mayes Ward Dobbins Funeral Home.
Price, who served as pastor of Marietta’s Roswell Street Baptist Church for more than three decades, died Saturday, the Marietta Daily Journal first reported.
In addition to increasing the number of members at Roswell Baptist under his tenure, the church also saw a campus expansion, the Christian Index reported. The campus included a 4,000-seat worshiping center — the second-largest sanctuary in the Southeast at the time of completion.
Over the years, he grew the congregation from hundreds of members to roughly 10,000, turning it into one of the first “megachurches” in America, the paper reported.
He was even invited to preach before President Jimmy Carter and his cabinet in 1977. Carter called him the “Baptist preacher who wears alligator shoes,” the Marietta Daily Journal reported.
Over the years, the Mississippi native also served as the Southern Baptist Convention vice president.
Though his heart stayed with Georgia.
“I’ve prayed for nine years about this,” Price told the Baptist Press in 2000 when he announced his retirement. “I trust the Lord will continue to give me speaking engagements but I do plan on staying in Georgia. I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful community.”
“I’ve truly loved this church,” he added. “The unity and the love are so rare and refreshing that it has been such a blessing to be a part of.”
The Rev. Dan Moran, associate pastor at Roswell Street Baptist Church, said he only met Price a few times but noticed immediately the love he showed others and his congregation.
Price was a mentor for ministers, had a passion for preaching and was essentially the spiritual leader for Marietta, Moran said. He noted that the church gained its most “remarkable growth” during Price’s roughly 35 years there.
“He just loved the community. And I would say he was definitely the pastor for Marietta,” Moran told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday.
“Guys like me and the ones that have followed him will stand on the shoulders of a great man of God named Nelson Price, and he will be truly missed.”
The funeral home said services were incomplete and would be finalized by Monday.
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