By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The Louisiana Baptist Foundation board of trustees has announced Jared G. Price as the tenth executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention entity. “I am grateful for the trust the board has placed in me and honored to continue serving Louisiana Baptists in this new role,” Price told the Baptist Message. “I remain fully committed to our current strategic plan, the LBF Vision200, which aims to advance the Kingdom with $200 million or more in 20 years or less. Five years in, I’m encouraged to share that we have already seen a cumulative impact of over $76.9 million. As we look ahead, my prayer is that we continue to be good and faithful stewards of the resources entrusted to us and a trustworthy partner for Louisiana Baptists.” The announcement followed a unanimous vote by the board of trustees on June 24 after careful consideration of Price’s nomination by a search committee comprised of board members and chaired by Wendell Whetstone. Price, who assumes his new role on July 1, succeeds Jeffrey Steed, who retired as the Foundation’s executive director on May 31. Whetstone said Price’s qualifications set him apart from other qualified … [Read more...]

By Baptist Message staff DALLAS (LBM) – Callen Breaux, a sixth grader from Temple Baptist Church in Ruston, recently won the national Royal Ambassador Pinewood Derby. Held June 9 prior to the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, the race featured 11 participants from around the SBC who competed inside the exhibit hall. Breaux, who won the Louisiana Baptist RA Congress Pinewood Derby race in April after competing in the state competition for two years previously, expressed excitement about coming in first place on the national level. Additionally, Louisiana Baptist Women’s Missions and Ministry Strategist Christine Gill won the Pinewood Derby race against other Woman’s Missionary Union state directors. RA Consultant Keith Gates (also a member of First Baptist Church, Winnfield) coordinated the event and Goldonna Baptist Church’s RA ministry provided the track. “I was really surprised and excited at the same time,” Breaux told the Baptist Message. “I just wanted to compete. Never thought I might win.” Breaux’s win marked the second consecutive year a Louisiana Baptist has won the national RA Pinewood Derby. Josiah Jones, then a fifth grader from Quitman Baptist Church, won the 2024 national Pinewood … [Read more...]

By Baptist Message staff DERIDDER, La. (LBM) - A day after an arsonist tried to set fire to First Baptist Church, DeRidder, detectives have located the individual they believe committed the crime. According to a June 1 news release from the DeRidder Police Department, detectives used surveillance footage and other camera images to identify a vehicle and a suspect only to learn he had been booked in another parish jail on unrelated charges not long after the incident at the church. Detectives believe they have enough evidence for an arrest and are confident the individual acted alone. They expect to release a full report once the arrest is made, the news release said. “The church is grateful that the  suspect is in custody,” FBC DeRidder Administrative Pastor Steve Thomas told the Baptist Message. “It is an answer to prayer that this took place without any other incidents happening. “The church has also prayerfully committed itself to move forward without fear of any future copycat attacks," he added. “We have all agreed to not only be thankful for answered prayer of God’s protection, but also to pray for the suspect in custody to come to experience a personal relationship with Christ.  It is our prayer that God will use … [Read more...]

By Baptist Message staff DERIDDER, La. (LBM) - Authorities are investigating an early morning attempted arson that took place May 31 at First Baptist DeRidder. According to a news release from the DeRidder Police Department, the suspect appeared to be a heavy set white male attempted to set fire to the church. He was driving a small, dark SUV and approached the church from U.S. Highway 171 South and headed back in the same direction after the incident. The suspect may have minor to moderate burns to his arms and legs, the news release said. “The people of First Baptist DeRidder met at our Associational office while their facility was being investigated as a crime scene,” Beauregard Baptist Associational Mission Strategist Tom Bruce told the Baptist Message.  “We prayed for their church, their Gospel witness, and the perpetrator(s). “Ultimately we knew that as awful as this was, it could have been so much worse and our situation doesn't even come close to what the church gathered in other parts of the world endures,” he continued. “We know God will bring good out of what the devil wishes to use to destroy. We prayed that this will ignight a revival in the church and around the state.” Authorities have asked … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Send Network Louisiana churches cele­brated a Gospel harvest to start the new year, pro­ducing 141 decisions for Christ and 68 baptisms by 44 church plants during the first three months of 2025. Additionally, the church plants reported 1,234 Gospel conversations and an aver­age of 64 in weekly worship attendance, according to a recent first quarter report by Send Network Louisi­ana. Send Network Louisi­ana Director Lane Corley said the partnership with the North American Mis­sion Board, which went into effect Aug. 1, 2023, has helped the state further its God-sized vision to see His Kingdom expanded in Lou­isiana by one percent over the next decade. “The Gospel continues to advance to new people in Louisiana through church planting,” Corley told the Baptist Message. “We also continue to engage every people group with new Hispanic, Asian, Arabic and multiethnic works. Replanting continues to be a major priority with dozens of churches in need of radical revitalization. We need planters, re-planters and partner churches for opportunities all across Louisiana.” Researchers estimate that 62 percent of approxi­mately 4.6 million Louisian­ans are … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer WOODWORTH, La. (LBM) – During the May 6 meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Board in the Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center, Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn encouraged members to be passionate about reaching the state for Christ. EVANGELISTIC VISION In his report, Horn highlighted the Convention’s vision statement seek the lost, strengthen churches, and support cooperative missions and ministries. Seek the lost Horn said Louisiana Baptists continue to see spiritual fruit through various evangelistic endeavors in the state: -- 8,415 baptisms in 2024; -- 75 congregations participated in John 3:16 Sunday (19,000 business-sized cards about the Gospel were mailed and distributed by them for the March 16 evangelistic outreach effort; -- Youth Evangelism Celebration (501 spiritual decisions, including 108 to accept Christ); -- mass evangelism crusades in Beauregard, Grant, Livingston and Ouachita Parishes; -- “Here for You” multi-media campaign yielded 7,864 views of the Gospel via commercials on TV or social media, with 244 trusting in Christ in 2024, while 3,379 views have yielded 14 decisions for Christ so far in 2025; … [Read more...]