By Message Staff DUBACH, La. (LBM) - A lightning strike that struck Mineral Springs Baptist Church in Dubach Saturday morning may have caused a fire that destroyed most of the congregation’s facilities, Pastor Greg Tipton said. Tipton told the Baptist Message the fire was discovered around 9:30 a.m. The Jackson Parish, Choudrant and Farmerville fire departments responded. No one was inside the buildings at the time. The church, which averaged between 60 and 80 for Sunday morning worship services before they met for online services, lost its worship center, sound room, office space and nursery. The fellowship hall received smoke damage. Tipton said members plan to meet at 10:45 a.m. Sunday on the church parking lot for prayer. “We are trying to regroup, and we need God’s direction on how to meet and rebuild. We will be okay with the Lord’s help. He will help us through this.” said Regina Prewitt-Aguilar, Mineral Springs Baptist's missions director, echoing Tipton's thoughts. “It’s a sad day us,” she said. “Though we lost our building we are still a church. The members our the church. Nothing will stop us from worshiping God.” … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BOSSIER CITY, La. (LBM)–The novel coronavirus pandemic has not slowed the rebuilding of the facilities of the First Baptist Church in Bossier City, 17 months after a fire destroyed much of the campus. "This has been encouraging to the church body and the community around us to see the construction not stop," Pastor Brad Jurkovich told the Baptist Message. "We have had several people to say it's been so cool to see new construction going on. I believe this has given our congregation and the area hope in the midst of this pandemic." A groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 29, 2019, launched the rise of a new $20 million, 70,000-square-foot building to replace facilities destroyed by an early morning fire on Dec. 10, 2018. The worship center and Tiny Town preschool area were among the few buildings that were not damaged by the fire. Once complete in the summer of 2021, there will be a new chapel, student center, foyer and event center and space for Sunday school classes and other small groups to meet. Crews already remodeled the children's area and replaced 25 offices that were lost in the fire. Currently the worship center, foyer and small group space are undergoing a renovation. In … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer NEW ORLEANS, La. (LBM) – Sunday mornings these days are a little different for Pastor Fred Luter. Instead of preaching to nearly 3,000 worshipers packed inside the new worship center at the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans East, Luter finds himself facing empty chairs as he shares his message to a virtual audience watching via Facebook Live and YouTube. Rather than dwell on the absence of faces in front of him, Luter focuses on the 10,000 or so "hidden" viewers who are listening each Sunday morning. Importantly, he maintains a priority on sharing the Word, regardless, and as a result, an average of 15 people per week since going online-only March 15 have respond by humbling their hearts to Christ for salvation or restoration or church membership, he said. Luter said he never dreamed God would use this online option to reach so many with the Gospel. "We built a big sanctuary when we relocated in 2018 and now have empty seats," Luter told the Baptist Message. "We are limited in our ministry now because we can't get out much, but our reach to share Christ has never seemed so unlimited. "Never would we have gotten this type of response if it were not for this … [Read more...]