Click to Login or Sign Up

Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

New Hope delivered in Kenner

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer KENNER, La. (LBM) – In Kenner, New Hope Community Church are bringing the light of Jesus to a community still recovering from Hurricane Ida and COVD-19. According to Pastor Mark Mitchell, the church has served more than 2,200 people since March 2020. Whether they are feeding the community, mentoring school children or conducting sports camps, the Gospel is being shared and souls are being saved. “We engage the community with the Gospel of Christ,” Mitchell told the Baptist Message. “When He calls us, it’s an opportunity on mission with Him. No matter what opposition we may face, God helps us overcome.” Among its most difficult trials the church faced was in late 2021, when Hurricane Ida damaged their facilities and caused a reduction in its membership from 250 to 125. Still, the church pressed on and continued pouring into its community. Some of their ministry efforts have included holding men’s and women’s Bible studies to help raise godly leaders, hosting “front yard” Bible clubs and “adopting” multiple schools to build relationships with the students, teachers and parents. By early January, the church hopes to complete renovations to its facilities as they … [Read more...]

Abortionists leave Louisiana

By Baptist Message staff NEW ORLEANS (LBM)—The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled, Aug. 12, that the state’s trigger law, which bans most abortions in the state, may remain in effect even while legal challenges continue to be heard. The decision has prompted leaders of Louisiana’s three remaining abortion facilities to declare they are moving to other states, although representatives did not identify where they would be relocating, according to TheAdvocate.com. Louisiana’s ban went into effect immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a 5-4 ruling, June 24. However, the three clinics and a pro-abortion student group with a chapter at Tulane University, filed a lawsuit, causing starts and stops to the abortion ban due to different state court rulings on temporary stays. TheAdvocate.com also reported that the Center for Reproductive Rights, a partner with the three clinics fighting against the pro-life law, said their legal challenge would continue. However, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry tweeted after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that he would “continue fighting to end this legal circus” by these abortion activists. … [Read more...]

Louisiana Notables

EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you have a Revival, Homecoming, a new pastor, a community outreach or a concert? The Baptist Message would love to share your church news with the rest of the state. It is very easy to do, just send in your information (who, what, where and when) to philip@baptistmessage.com or call 318.449.4345. To get your event in the paper, please submit your information three weeks prior to the event. ON THE MOVE James David Miller was licensed to the gospel ministry at Alto Baptist Church on August 14. He will attend Mississippi College and study Christian Ministry and be on the MC track and field team as a thrower. His father, Alan Miller, is the Alto pastor.  His grandfather is  James H. Miller, who is a retired pastor living in Dubach. Jerry Masters is the new pastor at Red River Baptist Church, Benton. Rick Draper, the minister of worship and music, has departed from First Baptist Church, New Orleans. Nate Jernigan will begin serving as First Baptist Church, New Orleans interim worship leader on September 11. Cassidy Richardson is the new children/family associate at Grawood Baptist Church, Keithville. Ashley Young is the new children’s minister at Grawood Baptist Church, Keithville. Haley Kemp … [Read more...]

Gloster Baptist Church lives out GBO vision

By Brian Blackwell, Message staff writer GLOSTER, La. (LBM) – For many years, Gloster Baptist Church has helped carry the torch of Georgia Barnette, who served as a missionary with a passion for sharing the Gospel as the first elected and paid Woman’s Missionary Union executive director/treasurer for Louisiana Baptists. Not only does the church have boots on the ground in their own community and other towns throughout Louisiana, but Gloster Baptist gives generously to the annual state missions offering named after “Miss Georgia.” According to Pastor Ron McLellan, the church (with an average of 100 in Sunday worship) in the last 12 months has given $14,638 to the annual offering which honors Barnette’s dedication to spreading the Good News in Louisiana; and they have set a giving goal of $16,000 for 2022. McLellan, who has served as pastor since 1995, said his church’s commitment to doing whatever it takes to further the Gospel nearby never ceases to amaze him. “Our Gloster family amazes me with their willingness to go on mission with God to places like Sulphur, after hurricanes ravaged the southwest; to Plaucheville to do a music and arts camp; to a foster care camp held in North Monroe; and most recently to the inner … [Read more...]

Conservative professor alleges ‘firing’ by SWBTS

By Will Hall, Message executive editor FORT WORTH, Texas (LBM) – Long-time faculty member David Allen has released a letter alleging he has been fired. His action was in response to descriptions of his termination as “retirement” by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Allen was the seminary’s distinguished professor of preaching, and he also was the director of the Center for Expository Preaching, having served the seminary in multiple positions since 2004. He had been on a year-long sabbatical just prior to his departure, July 31. Baptist Press reported, July 29, that SWBTS President Adam Greenway had informed Allen via email that “his full-time faculty position would be eliminated at the end of July.” Allen also said Greenway unilaterally had designated him for “retirement.” However, Allen declined to retire or resign. Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary announced, Aug. 1, that it had hired Allen as the new Distinguished Visiting Professor of Practical Theology and Dean of the Adrian Rogers Center for Biblical Preaching. Rogers, the now-deceased pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, who was a former SBC president and the leader of the conservative resurgence in the SBC, helped … [Read more...]

DOJ opens sex abuse case against SBC

By Will Hall, Message executive editor WASHINGTON (LBM) – The United States Department of Justice is investigating allegations of sex abuse against the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC Executive Committee revealed that it had been served a subpoena in a letter, Aug. 12. signed by the recently elected SBC president and all 13 national entity heads, stating their organizations are individually and collectively “resolved to fully and completely cooperate with the investigation.” According to news reports, multiple SBC ministries are being targeted. BACKGROUND The investigation is being launched as lawsuits are stacking up against the SBC since the release of the controversial “independent investigation” by the pro-gay Guidepost Solutions which was hired by the SBC Executive Committee to conduct an internal review. The SBC Executive Committee has since acknowledged there are 14 cases filed in North Carolina and 4 in Virginia, but scores of law firms are running ads seeking plaintiffs to join class action filings. The legal situation is complicated by the fact that long-term SBC attorneys Jim Guenther and Jamie Jordan resigned when, against their counsel, the SBC Executive Committee waived attorney-client … [Read more...]

GBO keeps alive ‘Miss Georgia’s’ love for Louisiana

By Will Hall, Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Letters show that Georgia Barnette’s first impressions of the Pelican state were love at first sight. Arriving by train from Atlanta, Barnette remarked how moved she was by the landscape she saw. “Surely God loved Louisiana because He made it so beautiful,” she wrote to a friend. Years later, after having retired from serving 25 years as the director of the Woman’s Missionary Union in the state, and awaiting her last breath, she lay in her bed praying for her “beloved Louisiana people.” In between these two bookends in her life, Georgia Barnette was motivated by her “value of one soul” and tirelessly worked to build up the body of Christ and minister to those in need, while inspiring Louisiana Baptists to take the Gospel across the state. Her legacy of love for Christ and the people of Louisiana continues through the state missions offering that was named for her in 1936. The goal for the 2022 Georgia Barnette Offering is $1.7 million, an amount that supplements what Louisiana Baptists give through the Cooperative Program, the primary funding channel for state and national Baptist causes. for state and national Baptist causes. CP gifts provide … [Read more...]