By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
NEW ORLEANS (LBM) – Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, has announced he will retire in October 2026.
Luter, who shared about his retirement during an Oct. 19 service that celebrated his 39th anniversary with FABC, said he is grateful to the 65 members who voted to call him as pastor while he was a young street preacher from the Lower Ninth Ward. He also expressed appreciation for being a part of a church that has persevered through four building programs, the COVID pandemic and Hurricane Katrina.
During his ministry with FABC, Luter was elected as the first African American president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he has seen the church baptize 6,500 new believers, according to church records.
“Just looking back on from when it started to up until now, it’s been a joy pastoring Franklin Avenue,” Luter told the Baptist Message. “To see what God has done in this church, with a guy who never pastored before, and then being a part of a church that grew to be one of the largest churches in the state has been a blessing.
“And I look at it as God rewarding my faithfulness,” he continued. “I’ve been thankful to God, to His Word, to my wife and family, and to this church.”
Once he retires, his son, Chip Luter, will succeed him. During a specially called meeting, Nov. 3, the younger Luter, associate pastor of the congregation, was officially called to his new leadership role by a 96 percent vote.
Luter noted that his son was qualified because he was a Christ follower who was baptized by FABC and has served as high school pastor with Concord Church, Dallas (2007-2009), pastor of youth and youth adults with FABC (2010-2015), campus pastor with Idlewild Baptist Church’s Sulphur Spring campus in Tampa, Florida, (2015-2021) and now with FABC in his current role.
“When I look at Chip, I tell people he is not just my son but someone who has proven himself in ministry,” Luter said. “So, it’s exciting to see how God has raised him up as a minister of the Gospel and now he’s going to succeed me as the senior pastor.”
Looking to retirement, Luter will serve as pastor emeritus starting in October 2026. He hopes to preach at more churches on Sunday mornings, something he has not done because Luter has remained committed to preaching at FABC most weekends.
“If God continues to give me the strength, I’ll still be preaching,” he said. “There are a lot of pastor friends of mine who want me to come on Sundays and preach for them. Since I had a commitment to preach on Sundays at my own church, I will be freer to do that.
“And then I’m still getting requests to preach at evangelism conferences, state conventions and association meetings, which I will continue to do,” he continued. “One of the older members came to me recently and said, ‘pastor, I didn’t know that preachers retire. I said, ‘no, I’m not retired. I’m retired from pastoring, but I’m not retired from preaching.’ I still will continue to be faithful to that call.”
The Baptist Message will publish an in-depth article on Luter’s ministry in a future edition.
