DEVILLE – Fathers at Philadelphia Deville were encouraged to bring their sons to a men’s ministry workday to benefit the elderly, widows and single moms. The women’s ministry is collecting games such as UNO, dominoes and more, as well as coloring books and crayons/markers, for nursing home residents in the area. Upward Basketball camp for grades 1-4 is set for July 16-19, and for grades 5-8 is set for July 23-26. Philip Robertson is pastor. KENTWOOD – First Kentwood members met at the community center pavilion April 28 for Kentwood Clean-Up Day. The LBC’s Michael Stewart led in a Making the Most of Your Money event April 22. Joey Miller is pastor. JONESBORO – DiscipleNow for youth at First Jonesboro is set for May 4-6. The youth fundraiser Shrimp Fettucinni & Auction is set for 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20. Cost: $6/plate. Charles Wesley is pastor. Clay Smith is minister of youth and education. In mid-April members participated in a construction missions trip to assist Church Point Baptist in building its fellowship hall. FERRIDAY – In a classic example of a church reaching out into its community, nine people in prison attended Sunday morning Bible study April 15 as part of First Ferriday. Another 72 … [Read more...]

Comings and Goings --Ouachita Baptist Association churches without pastors: New Era, Sicily Island First Baptist, Wallace Ridge. --Delta Baptist Association churches without pastors: Tensas. --Chris (wife: Rachel) Young, pastor, Providence Shreveport. --Northwest Baptist Association churches without pastors: Cypress, Grawood, Linda Lay, Oil City, Plain Dealing, Trinity Heights, BanSuk Korean English pastor; churches without ministers of music: Benton, Beulah Land, Emmanuel Vivian, Kingston Road, Linwood, Pinecroft and Woodland Hills, all part-time, plus Trinity Heights, full-time; churches without ministers of youth: Benton, Cypress, Mooringsport, North Keithville, Northwoods, Oil City, Providence, and Rodessa, all part-time, plus Airline, full-time; churches seeking children’s minister, full-time: Grawood. --Pastor, First Lafayette Spanish Mission. Contact Steve Horn, pastor of First Lafayette, atsteve.horn@fbclaf.org or 337-233-1412, for more information. --Gerald Gates is new as music minister at Greenacres Bastrop. --Scotty and Cindy Sanders resigned as associate pastor and children’s minister from First West Monroe to accept new assignments in Flower Mound, Texas. --Student minister needed at New … [Read more...]

The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions will celebrate three centuries of associational work in America during a three-day gathering in San Antonio, June 9-11, prior to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. SAN ANTONIO (BP) – The Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions will celebrate three centuries of associational work in America during a three-day gathering in San Antonio, June 9-11, prior to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. The leader of the national group said he believes the 300th anniversary celebration comes at an appropriate time, when the usefulness of the association is being questioned in some circles of denominational life. “Some say the association is a dinosaur,” Tom Biles, president of the SBCADOM and director of missions with the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Baptist Association, told Baptist Press. “But my view is that associations are still relevant for today’s churches. God’s work through associations is just as important as it’s ever been.” Biles said he is certain that associations remain a powerful means of equipping churches for ministry and missions. And the evidence, he said, is easy to see. In his association in Florida, … [Read more...]

For the second year in a row, the SBC Pastors’ Conference will feature Monday morning breakout seminars – something that proved very successful last year.  SAN ANTONIO (BP) – For the second year in a row, the SBC Pastors’ Conference will feature Monday morning breakout seminars – something that proved very successful last year. But Pastors’ Conference President Hayes Wicker doesn’t want Southern Baptists to think the seminars are the highlight of the conference, which will be held June 10-11 in San Antonio. In fact, Jerry Vines and Chuck Colson will speak during the first session, held on Sunday evening, while the Monday afternoon and evening sessions will feature James MacDonald, James Merritt and Johnny Hunt, among others. The conference’s theme is “Jesus Christ ... From Him, Through Him, To Him,” a reference to Romans 11:36. “Our desire is to, first and foremost lift up Jesus Christ and focus on Him -- and not just programming or paradigms or controversial issues,” Wicker, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Naples, Fla., told Baptist Press. “That one passage of scripture says to me everything about the Christian life and Christ’s victory and sufficiency that we need so much.” The conference, Wicker said, … [Read more...]

The “Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith” DVD distributed across Utah and other parts of the country this spring was intended to be upsetting, the co-director of the DVD said. EDITORS’ NOTE: A two-part series, “The Mormons,” was shown on PBS April 30 and May 1. The following two stories report on some of the various efforts to reach Mormons with the Gospel. SALT LAKE CITY (BP)--The “Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith” DVD distributed across Utah and other parts of the country this spring was intended to be upsetting, the co-director of the DVD said. “I was offended when I was told these same things when I was a Mormon,” Randy Gavin said. “The reverence I held for Joseph Smith kept me from taking a critical look at him,” Gavin said. “If you’re going to trust your salvation to something, you need to take a critical look at it.” The DVD has elicited responses from within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in other religious circles. An LDS news release said the church has weathered similar attacks throughout its history and is not surprised that groups are trying to restrain its growth. The Anti-Defamation League, meanwhile, condemned the DVD in a news release as the same kind of “plain, old-fashioned Mormon-bashing” … [Read more...]

Talking to Mormons in Utah during spring break was frustrating at times and humbling, collegians said, but it strengthened their walk with God. SALT LAKE CITY (BP) – Talking to Mormons in Utah during spring break was frustrating at times and humbling, collegians said, but it strengthened their walk with God. David Collett, one of the leaders of a team from Corban College in Salem, Ore., said he likes to witness to Mormons because “it’s very intellectual, and apologetics comes into play a lot, and that’s an area of evangelism I think I do well in.” Collett’s first visit to Salt Lake City, however, was during a road trip with his cousin. They began having car trouble outside the city and managed to get to a repair shop. They were told the part they needed would take a day to get there. But after one week and three hotels, they left Utah resolved, in Collett’s words, to “never come back to this city again.” When Collett came to Corban in 2005, he saw advertisements for a Utah mission trip and, despite his earlier experience, felt a desire to go back. This spring break was Collett’s third venture to Utah. It can be scary to talk to Mormons “and defend your faith,” Collett acknowledged. “But knowing what you’re going into … [Read more...]

Buck Hill is great at getting “buy-in.” He got his South Carolina church to buy into the idea of a South Dakota mission trip. He got his wife Pam and teenage daughters B.J. and Parker to buy into the idea of moving to South Dakota as Mission Service Corps volunteers after they had gone on that mission trip. He even got five churches in the Heartland Baptist Association to buy into the concept of jointly starting a Saturday-night church in a town where three Sunday-church attempts had failed. ABERDEEN, S.D. (BP) – Buck Hill is great at getting “buy-in.” He got his South Carolina church to buy into the idea of a South Dakota mission trip. He got his wife Pam and teenage daughters B.J. and Parker to buy into the idea of moving to South Dakota as Mission Service Corps volunteers after they had gone on that mission trip. He even got five churches in the Heartland Baptist Association to buy into the concept of jointly starting a Saturday-night church in a town where three Sunday-church attempts had failed. The pivotal buy-in, he says, is the Cooperative Program. “Without all of the Southern Baptist churches pulling together, all that God has allowed us to do would not be possible,” Hill said. “We are ever grateful for the … [Read more...]

At its first anniversary, Operation NOAH Rebuild has topped more than 10,000 volunteers and 200 professions of faith in helping New Orleans-area residents recover from the impact of Hurricane Katrina. NEW ORLEANS (BP) – At its first anniversary, Operation NOAH Rebuild has topped more than 10,000 volunteers and 200 professions of faith in helping New Orleans-area residents recover from the impact of Hurricane Katrina. The initiative now moves into its second year with the announcement of a new project coordinator and with the expectation of outdistancing the first year on all fronts. David Maxwell, recently named NOAH project coordinator, oversees the supervision of staff, office and warehouse operations and volunteer management. Maxwell left a Louisiana pastorate to join NOAH in November 2006 as a construction coordinator. Toby Pittman, previous project coordinator, was reassigned to the Northshore in February. “I left the pastorate, but I didn’t leave the ministry,” said Maxwell, former pastor of Ridge Avenue Baptist Church in West Monroe. “This is a tremendous mission field and it is right in our backyard.” When NOAH crossed the one-year mark on May 1, it reported 10,338 volunteers were mobilized on 671 teams, … [Read more...]

Out of 200 or more publications belonging to the international Evangelical Press Association, Louisiana’s Baptist Message took first place during a recent awards ceremony at the Doubletree Colorado Springs. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Out of 200 or more publications belonging to the international Evangelical Press Association, Louisiana’s Baptist Message took first place during a recent awards ceremony at the Doubletree Colorado Springs. “It was the final award of the evening,” said Managing Editor Karen Willoughby, who accepted the award for Editor Kelly Boggs. “It’s for the most-improved publication. “We’ve received many many positive comments – and one negative one – from people in Louisiana for the changes in the paper. It was gratifying to get this from our peers.” … [Read more...]

As a way of showing appreciation to port workers, the staff and volunteers at Global Maritime Ministries fed about 130 people lunch on Friday, May 11. NEW ORLEANS – As a way of showing appreciation to port workers, the staff and volunteers at Global Maritime Ministries fed about 130 people lunch on Friday, May 11. It was their seventh year to do so. Calvary Shreveport assisted this year. In addition to workers, they provided the meal. In addition to grilled chicken sandwiches, beans and potato salad, the seafarers’ ministry workers and Calvary volunteers passed out Bibles, copies of the Campus Crusade’s Jesus film video, and copies of Rick Warren’s best-selling Purpose Driven Life. For the second year, announcement of the free meal was placed in the paychecks of the port workers. This happened because by law, port employees are to receive an “Employee Recognition Day” but with no funds, port officials were unable to do this. When they heard Global Maritime each year gave an appreciation meal to their workers, port officials offered as their part to let the workers know of the meal prepared for them at the employees’ parking lot, explained Philip Vandercook, Global Maritime director. Tears came to the eyes of one … [Read more...]