The cleanup effort allowed Painter’s church the chance to minister to the community in a unique way. On most days during the cleanup, the church delivered some 200 meals to area senior citizens and missions centers as far away as New Orleans, using excess food prepared for British Petroleum cleanup workers.

It’s been more than a year since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, leased by oil giant British Petroleum, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, just 41 miles off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 workers and contaminating waters that are home to the state’s large fishing industry.

Once oil began washing ashore, federal officials for a season prohibited fishing in the once-prolific waters.

Remarkably, area pastors say their congregations are stable, if not thriving, as the largest marine oil spill in history became a blessing in disguise for the local economy. Still, they express concern about the spill’s potential long-term effects on the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem and human health.

“There’s definitely concern about how this is going to play out in the long run and the unknown,” said Eddie Painter, a then-commercial fisherman who now pastors Barataria Baptist Church in Lafitte. “Actually, it was a backdoor blessing for us. It provided some tremendous ministry opportunities.”

The cleanup effort allowed Painter’s church the chance to minister to the community in a unique way. On most days during the cleanup, the church delivered some 200 meals to area senior citizens and missions centers as far away as New Orleans, using excess food prepared for British Petroleum cleanup workers.

“The hours were long for the ministry,” Painter said of the church’s efforts. “It was seven days a week, 12 to 15 hours a day.”

But he and leaders of other Baptist churches along the Louisiana coast say their ministries have been blessed despite the upheaval.

“From all the reports I’m getting, everything is looking pretty good,” said Lynn Rodrigue, who leads Port Sulphur Baptist Church, where about 60 worship on Sundays. “I would say basically, now everything is back to normal. [The spill] really turned things upside down for a while.

“The giving is back to normal and the attendance is back up. I think actually the oil spill was a blessing to many people financially. I know some people who made $300,000 or $400,000 in six months.”

Read More