By Baptist Message staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – The Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee, during a hearing Dec. 6, voted 13-2 against Gov. John Bel Edwards’ effort to mandate that students take the COVID-19 vaccine before being allowed to attend school. The supermajority vote came after explosive testimony by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the late U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, who described the COVID-19 vaccine as the “deadliest” ever made. Kennedy is founder and chairman of the Children’s Health Defense, which describes itself as dedicated to ending childhood health epidemics. Meanwhile, Joseph Kanter, state health officer with the Louisiana Department of Health, called Kennedy’s presentation of Pfizer data “gross distortion” and “misinformation.” TESTIMONY Landry During the hearing, Attorney General Jeff Landry spoke strongly against the proposal that would have added the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required shots for students 16 and older, declaring that the proposed requirement did not pass state constitutional muster. “I’m asking you to take back the police powers of this state,” Landry said. “We cannot allow an executive branch to … [Read more...]

By Baptist Message staff LAKE CHARLES, La. (LBM) – More than 2,000 members and guests are expected to pack the newly remodeled central venue worship center of Trinity Baptist Church, Lake Charles, for two special services Sunday, Dec. 5. The center, which sustained heavy damage, became a lighthouse to the community. “Lake Charles dealt with COVID like everyone else did, then when you added two hurricanes, then had the freeze in February and then the floods in May, you have the makeup for a very challenging year,” Pastor Steve James said. “Our folks were up to the challenge. We have got a core of people at Trinity who helped us carry on despite all of the difficulties we faced.” Renovations to the 27,000-square-foot central venue were completed in November. With theatre-style seating for 1,000, it is the largest of three venues used for various worship services on the 39-acre campus: the central venue hosts blended-style worship, the north venue features contemporary worship, and the chapel venue is home to the Hispanic service. Since the $5.2 million project began in January 2020, the church has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic, three hurricanes, a flood and an ice storm. During this time, Trinity became a hub for … [Read more...]