By Message Staff NEW ORLEANS - Just a few months away from completing a renovation to its buildings that were heavily damaged by a tornado in February, Suburban Baptist Church has suffered yet another setback - theft inside its worship center. Multiple times in the past six days, burglars have broken into the worship center and stolen office and construction equipment, according to Pastor Jeffery Friend. But just like the tornado that tried to destroy the church’s spirit, Friend said a theft will not stop the congregation from moving back into its buildings. "I truly believe wherever God is showing out, you should look for Satan to show up," Friend said. "I'm not surprised bad things have started to happen. In fact I anticipated it. But God has been doing amazing things at and for Suburban." Among the items stolen were three computers, two televisions, two printers, power tools and shingles. Until they can install a security system in two weeks, the church also has to pay $1,800 for overnight armed security guards. Friend said an investigation by the New Orleans Police Department is ongoing. An EF-3 tornado touched down in eastern New Orleans Feb. 7, heavily damaging Southern Baptist Church's facilities. More … [Read more...]

By Alex Sibley, Southwestern Communications BATON ROUGE - As both a crew member at Trader Joe's and a minister at Progression Church in Baton Rouge, Joe Handy essentially gets to pastor two locations - his "Trader Joe's campus" and his "Progression Church campus." At Trader Joe's, a grocery store chain, Handy rubs shoulders with nearly 85 coworkers from a wide range of social, cultural, political and spiritual backgrounds, most of whom have little to no interest in visiting a church. "So I try to pastor them right where they are," Handy says. "I'm the only pastor some of them have. I love that I have opportunity to bring church to them. "As they get to know me," he continues, "trust builds, and I get to play the role of friend and pastor in their lives," though they sometimes never realize it. It's fun seeing the worlds of Progression Church and Trader Joe's collide like that." Handy is one of four bi-vocational ministers on Progression Church's five-person pastoral team. Lead pastor Brian Crain is Progression's only full-time staff member, though he did begin as a bi-vocational minister. Needless to say, bi-vocational ministry is an important part of Progression's DNA, paving the way for avenues of ministry that … [Read more...]