Southern Baptists topped the 2006 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal, delivering the largest gift in the offering’s 118-year history.  RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – Southern Baptists topped the 2006 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal, delivering the largest gift in the offering’s 118-year history. After the books closed May 31, the final tally hit $150,178,098.06, an 8.9 percent increase over last year’s $137.9 million. Southern Baptists last exceeded their goal three years ago by giving more than $136.2 million to the 2003 offering after missionary appointments lagged because of insufficient funds. The offering supports the work of more than 5,100 missionaries across the globe. This year’s gifts are expected to have a notable impact on the number of personnel being sent to the field. Board leaders anticipate sending 200 extra missionaries over the next two years, in addition to the normal appointment numbers. “Because we are a missionary-sending organization, the number of missionaries we are able to send is directly related to the gifts we receive from Southern Baptists through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering,” said Jerry Rankin, president of the International … [Read more...]

Southern Baptists meeting in San Antonio June 12-13 reelected Frank Page as president, focused on a call for repentance and passed a motion identifying the Baptist Faith and Message as the denomination’s “only consensus statement of doctrinal beliefs.” SAN ANTONIO (BP) – Southern Baptists meeting in San Antonio June 12-13 reelected Frank Page as president, focused on a call for repentance and passed a motion identifying the Baptist Faith and Message as the denomination’s “only consensus statement of doctrinal beliefs.” The pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., Page was elected unopposed, one year after he surprised many observers by being elected on the first ballot in a three-man race. Page this year used his first presidential address to say the denomination must repent of its “hubris” and “arrogance” in order to hope for revival. With more than 8,600 messengers in attendance, it was the first annual meeting held in San Antonio since 1988. “For 30 years we’ve been trying to raise baptism levels among non-revived churches among non-revived people who’ve lost their passion for the lost,” said Page, adding he was paraphrasing longtime evangelism professor Roy Fish. “But interestingly enough, … [Read more...]

Twenty-three churches in the north central Louisiana piney woods of Winn Parish will mark the association’s 148 years of service this fall. … [Read more...]

As a child, Beth Roach wanted to be the world’s first singing-astronaut-turned-international missionary, she told the Vernon Baptist Association WMU gathered at First Baptist Church here recently. LEESVILLE – As a child, Beth Roach wanted to be the world’s first singing-astronaut-turned-international missionary, she told the Vernon Baptist Association WMU gathered at First Baptist Church here recently. Though the singing-astronaut gig fell by the wayside, Roach did become an international missionary with the IMB and served with her husband, Bruce, for almost seven years in Yemen, a small, Middle Eastern nation that is almost 100 percent Muslim, she said. Now, however, the couple, along with their two sons, leads a quieter life in Minot, N.D. “Wherever God sends you is exciting,” Roach told her audience. “God knows where we are now. He brought us to the Dakotas and knows what He has for us.” The Roaches, both Louisiana natives, are entrenched not only in North Dakota life but also in the task of spreading the gospel in that state, Beth said. She is the adult missions consultant while her husband, a doctor, is also very active in their church, Cross Roads Baptist, as a deacon. The Message incorrectly listed Roach’s … [Read more...]

With his genesis in the poor delta parish of Franklin in far northeast Louisiana, Winn Association Director of Missions Clovis Sturdivant can certainly appreciate the “immediate connection” he enjoys in the rural north central parish he now calls home. WINNFIELD – With his genesis in the poor delta parish of Franklin in far northeast Louisiana, Winn Association Director of Missions Clovis Sturdivant can certainly appreciate the “immediate connection” he enjoys in the rural north central parish he now calls home.   “The joke I make is that I was born in a sanitarium.  Of course, all we know about a sanitarium today is that it’s a mental institution. But back nearly 59 years ago, a sanitarium was just a hospital – King’s Sanitarium in Winnsboro. He was one of the doctors in town. It was a hospital on blocks, no air conditioning.”   The sturdy, gravel-voiced DOM now lives in Winnfield, where he had led this association for 11 years, but his journey here from Bayou Mason in the Crowville area was not necessarily direct.   His father, a World War II Army veteran, died in 1952 of a war-related condition.   “It was me and my sister, who was a year old; times were hard. My sister and I were … [Read more...]

English professor earns Ph.D. English professor earns Ph.D. Don Shipley, Jr. received his Ph.D. in English with a concentration in Religion and Literature from Baylor University on May 12, 2007. The title of Shipley’s dissertation was Chesterton and His Interlocutors: Dialogical Style and Ethical Debate on Eugenics. Shipley is the coordinator for the Division of Humanities at Louisiana College. New Testament/Greek prof earns Ph.D. Jason Meyer, professor of New Testament and Greek, received a doctor of philosophy degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., on May 18. Meyer graduated with a Ph.D. degree in New Testament. His dissertation title was Paul, the Mosaic Covenant, and Redemptive History. English professor earns MFA degree Rosanne Osborne, Ph.D., Hixson Professor of English, received an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University in Louisville, Ky. on June 1. Osborne’s thesis, Between Dream and Memory, is a collection of poems in four parts: poems triggered by news stories juxtaposing autobiographical fragments and cultural commentary, a sonnet sequence that reckons with the shaping influence of tools in life, autobiographical memories … [Read more...]

.     BOGALUSA – Pat Dubroca was to be guest speaker for the Hilltopers meeting June 12. Topic: Medicare and supplemental insurance. Clay Norwood is pastor. HAYNESVILLE – First Baptist plans its annual churchwide celebration for July 1, and a weekend revival for July 7-8. BATON ROUGE – Broadmoor plans its Holy Moses Extreme Summer Music Camp for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 25-29, for all children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade. Cost: $50. Auditions for the main cast are set for 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, June 21. Register by June 14. John Goodwin is pastor. HOUMA – The 240 youngsters who attended VBS at Mulberry Baptist as a missions project made 290 “cookie boxes” for soldiers from Houma serving overseas. Two dozen cookies were carefully packaged in a box that also included a letter from a child, a photo of the class the child was in and an evangelistic tract. Mary Dowden was VBS director. Steve Graves is pastor. Mulberry Houma by the end of the year will have $100,000 due in a mortgage balloon note. Steps are being taken to pay off the note so it doesn’t have to be refinanced. “We do not want the efforts to pay off the building note to affect tithing; this is a separate financial … [Read more...]

Welcome! Drew Kelley is new as minister of music at Temple Baptist in Springhill. Wayne Reeves is pastor. Shawn (wife Laurie) Kaffka is new as minister of students at First Baptist Haynesville. Shelby Cowling is pastor. Jodie McGlocklin is new as minister to children at First Baptist Morgan City. David Willoughby is pastor. Mark Spradling is new as minister of youth at First Baptist Morgan City. David Willoughby is pastor. Chris Canterbury is new as youth minister at First Baptist Spearsville. James Miller is pastor. Jay Avance is new as pastor at Bluff Creek Baptist in Clinton. Robert C. Rollins Jr. is to be ordained to the gospel ministry at 2 p.m. June 24 at Harmony Baptist in Glenmora.   Needed Olla First Baptist Church is seeking a full-time pastor. Please send resumes to Olla First Baptist Church, PO Box 326, Olla LA 71465. Attn: Pastor Search Committee. Phone: 318.495.5506. St. Landry Baptist, Ville Platte, seeks a full-time pastor. Send resume to Pastor Search Committee, 134 Benny St., Ville Platte LA 70586 or call 337.363.5051 or 337.461.7299. College Place Baptist, Monroe, seeks a full-time minister of music/education. Send resume to College Place Baptist Church, Attn: … [Read more...]

The Tiger Legacy sprang into action when construction work began May 1 on the Tiger and Red Rooms in the Baptist Collegiate Ministries facilities at Louisiana State University. BATON ROUGE – The Tiger Legacy sprang into action when construction work began May 1 on the Tiger and Red Rooms in the Baptist Collegiate Ministries facilities at Louisiana State University.   The entire chapel will be renovated later this year, after the north complex is completed.   “Some of the walls have been knocked out,” said Steve Masters, BCM director for the last 11 years. “We’re adding more than 4,000 square feet of space but we’re doing it in such a way that we will be able to continue our ministry programs during the construction.”   Over the last five years, alumni, current students, parents of alumni and current students, area churches and others have raised more than $750,000 to renovate the Baptist Student Center at LSU; about $150,000 more is needed. The Louisiana Baptist Convention has pledged up to $900,000 in matching contributions. Volunteers have stepped up to do the work, and more are needed – to help with framing, demolition, electrical, plumbing, heating/air conditioning, concrete and … [Read more...]

The LSU BCM offers a variety of ways to engage students in Christ-centered fellowship as well as spiritual growth and leadership training activities. Missions endeavors also are a major component of the work led for the last 11 years by Steve Masters, an out-doorsman who regularly takes students with him on camping, hunting and fishing expeditions. BATON ROUGE – The LSU BCM offers a variety of ways to engage students in Christ-centered fellowship as well as spiritual growth and leadership training activities. Missions endeavors also are a major component of the work led for the last 11 years by Steve Masters, an out-doorsman who regularly takes students with him on camping, hunting and fishing expeditions.       LSU BCM ministries:   Leadership training: More than 60 students serve on the BCM leadership team. They plan, coordinate and implement the various BCM ministries.   Each fall the BCM mails newsletters about the BCM to the more than 4,000 students who indicate a Baptist preference on their application, and sends emails to them throughout the year, informing them of BCM meetings and events. BCM also regularly sponsors get-acquainted outreach tables in Free Speech … [Read more...]