By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The CENLA Pregnancy Center Inc. recently celebrated its sixth year of service to women and their unborn children with a redesign of its logo. During a ribbon cutting and open house, Nov. 29, pregnancy center staff, board members and community leaders gathered to remember its past and focus on the future. “The pregnancy center has experienced significant growth and expansion in six short years,” CPC Executive Director Kim Lyons told the Baptist Message. “The transformation of the ministry, the team expanding, the board growing and most importantly the clients we get to impact represents transformation and the new logo, represents just that, transformation. Lyons said the CPC chose the logo redesign because this is a new season of growth and transformation for the ministry. CELEBRATING SIX YEARS Located on the Louisiana Baptist state missions center campus at 1254 MacArthur Drive in Alexandria since December 2017, CENLA Pregnancy Center, along with centers in Marksville (2019) and Vidalia (2022), has served more than 1,624 women, completed 6,761 client visits, 1,870 pregnancy tests and 1,269 ultrasounds, and provided over 25,000 resources … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LMB) – Summer Grove Baptist Church recently celebrated the last payment on $12 million debt that was previously owed for its 900,000-square-foot facility. Members of the church, who purchased a vacant Shreveport shopping mall in 2003 and relocated there a year later, rejoiced during a unique Nov. 26 note-burning service that featured encouraging remarks by Pastor Heath Peloquin, Pastor Emeritus Wayne DuBose, Pastor Emeritus Billy Crosby and former Senior Pastor Aaron Burgner. Prayers were led by Northwest Baptist Associational Missions Strategist Lane Moore and former church member Ronnie Smith, and there was a substantial celebratory atmosphere. “I’m so proud of our people because they never stopped giving and never gave up,” Peloquin told the Baptist Message. “This has given us a renewed sense of why God has brought us here to do our part to reach Shreveport and be that light of Jesus to a lost and dying world that needs it. Now, I believe there will be new ministry opportunities because of retiring our debt, and we will have a renewed sense of being able to help more in areas where we have not been able to in the past.” When Peloquin became pastor in … [Read more...]