By Message Staff DUBACH, La. (LBM) – Standing a few feet from the rubble left behind from an early morning fire on Saturday, Pastor Greg Tipton said Sunday afternoon that God has a bright future planned for Mineral Springs Baptist Church in Dubach. “This is what’s left of it,” Tipton told his congregation assembled on the church parking lot. “But I’m here to tell you today the church is good because the church is not the building. "The church is the people," he emphasized, "and the people of God are good today." “This is going to be the first part of our rebuilding starting today,” he continued. “Right now, the church is rebuilding our campus.” During his brief message based off 1 Corinthians 13:13, Tipton shared about how faith, hope and love are crucial to moving ahead. “Those three things are things that are necessary for this church, not just to rebuild a building, but for us to build the Kingdom in a good way,” he said. A fire that was discovered around 9:30 a.m. Saturday destroyed the congregation’s worship center, sound room, office space and nursery; and, the fellowship hall received smoke damage. Tipton said Mineral Springs Baptist has received offers from other churches to allow them to meet … [Read more...]

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...]

By Message Staff WOODWORTH, La. (LBM)--Louisiana Baptist leaders announced May 14 that all state convention-sponsored camps at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center will not take place this summer because of novel coronavirus pandemic-related safety concerns. "In light of Governor Edwards' updated guidelines and after consultations with multiple medical professionals we determined we could not safely conduct the camps given the current state of the COVID outbreak," Dale Lingenfelter, director of the business and information services team for Louisiana Baptists, told the Baptist Message. Lingenfelter noted Louisiana Baptists Executive Director Steve Horn and the rest of the executive leadership team have monitored the situation since mid-March. "There were many considerations that factored into this difficult decision," Lingenfelter continued. "Groups come to Tall Timbers from across Louisiana and surrounding states and when you take into account space for social distancing, the wearing of masks, sleeping in close quarters and then returning to their cities and churches after days of such exposure, it seemed very problematic." Groups who registered for a 2020 camp automatically will receive a refund. Tall Timbers, a … [Read more...]