(Note:  This is an update of a story we brought you in January.)

Pastor Bayless Conley, almost killed in a boating accident in January, made a successful return to the pulpit.

The pastor sent a message on Twitter that read “Well, I did it.  Preached 1^st time since the accident.  Thanks be to God, I had enough vocal strength to get through the entire message.”

Conley had returned to the church in a supervisory role earlier but Sunday marked the first time he attempted to deliver a sermon since the near-fatal accident.

Conley was riding in a boat at the end of January that collided head-on with cliffs on the north side of Catalina Island off the Southern California coast.  Conley suffered severe head and neck trauma including serious wounds to his throat.  He was in critical condition for weeks from the accident.

Doctors said that Conley would need 18 months of healing and rehab before he could return to the pulpit. Instead, it took 6 months.

Staff at Cottonwood Church said that Conley had some trouble pronouncing certain words but that everyone in attendance could understand the message.