By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – During the 2025 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Nov. 11, hosted by the Randolph Riverfront Center, Alexandria, Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn urged messengers to stay on mission together to reach the 4.6 million people who live in the state.
“Let’s stay together so that the world may know that God the Father sent the Son,” he said. “Let’s stay together. This is going to require faith. And this is going to require grace. But staying together is going to result in eternal wins. Louisiana Baptists, let’s stay together.”
EVANGELISTIC OPPORTUNTIES
Horn encouraged messengers to commit to reach one person for Christ
through the North American Mission Board’s new ‘Who’s Your One in a million’ initiative (a twist on the Southern Baptist Convention’s entity’s ‘Who’s Your One?’ personal evangelism effort). This concept challenges one million Christ followers to commit to reach just one person with the Gospel.
If one million believers commit to this plan, Louisiana could see historical numbers of salvations and subsequent baptisms in churches, Horn said.
“It’s not just a lofty goal,” he said. “It’s a very doable goal. It’s a very doable challenge that depends on faithful obedience, one relationship at a time.”
Additionally, Horn asked messengers to sign up and participate in a “God-ordained opportunity” at the Serve Tour, Aug. 21-22, in the Monroe-West Monroe area. Teams will have the chance to share Christ’s love there through light construction, painting, landscaping, block parties and other acts of kindness.
To prepare, Louisiana Baptists can pray and plan to bring a team to serve.
“Monroe and its surrounding region are yet places in Louisiana that need the Gospel,” he said. “I’m praying for hundreds of Louisiana Baptists to come together in these two days, laboring with hundreds more who will be coming from across the nation.”
CP EMPHASIS
Horn said that he is planning 40 listening sessions (one in each of 37 associations with three state-wide events for those who miss the meeting in their respective region) related to the Cooperative Program.
“My goal in these meetings is to hear from all concerned,” he said. “What can we do better? What are we committed to doing moving forward? What should we be doing that we are not doing? What are we doing that Louisiana Baptists want us to stop doing? Where have we lost trust in this cooperative endeavor to do more together than we can do by ourselves?”
In 2008, Louisiana Baptists gave $22,650,020 through the CP and in 2024, Louisiana Baptists gave just more than $17 million. During this year’s Annual Meeting, messengers approved a CP allocation budget of less than $17 million.
“We may not be in a crisis, but we are at a crossroads, at a crossroads we must address,” he said.
He reminded messengers that giving through this funding channel helps Louisiana Baptists make an eternal difference, together.
“Whether you are the largest contributor to the Cooperative Program or the smaller contributor, so long as you are contributing, this is your work,” he said. “The Cooperative Program helps us to do all of this together to make an enteral difference.”
RETIREMENT RECOGNITIONS
In addition to sharing about various initiatives planned for next year, Horn highlighted one Louisiana Baptist strategist who recently retired and another who will retire soon.
Former Louisiana Baptist Sunday School and Discipleship Strategist Sean Keith and his wife, Pam, former director of preschool ministries with Philadelphia Baptist Church, Deville, were among 54 individuals commissioned as missionaries by the International Mission Board, Sept. 24.
Director of Communications John Kyle recently announced plans to retire at the end of the year.
