By Marilyn Stewart, Regional reporter
[img_assist|nid=7957|title=Water from Hope|desc=The bottles of water being given away by volunteers from Hope Baptist Church in New Orleans during Mardi Gras had the church’s logo, email address, and a simple message – Happy Mardi Gras.|link=none|align=right|width=478|height=640]METAIRIE – Hope Church of Metairie, a Louisiana Baptist Convention church plant sponsored by First Baptist Church of Kenner, was ordered to cease and desist by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office while distributing free water bottles at a Mardi Gras parade in mid-February.
The written warning, a Vendor Warning Citation, carried no fine or penalty, but cited the failure to secure an occupational license and failure to register for a sales tax.
Matt Tipton, pastor, said the field agents used the words “cease and desist” during the incident, but were “extremely nice” and non-confrontational.
“They were just doing their job,” Tipton said. “We apologized. We’ll be glad to get a permit. We didn’t know.”
Volunteers were handing out free coffee and free water bottles from tailgate tents at two locations along the parade route when a female official stopped them. Tipton said they believed the woman to be a representative of the Jefferson Parish Code Enforcement office and understood her to mean they could not hand out the coffee.
The next night, at a second parade, volunteers were handing out water bottles when officials stopped them. Tipton said the two male officials told him a permit is required for selling or advertising during Mardi Gras.
The labels on the water bottles read “Hope Church loves Mardi Gras” and listed the church website.
Tipton said the officials told him repercussions would follow if the group continued. The group had two thousand bottles remaining when the distribution was shut down.
Hope Church is less than two years old and has forty-five regular attendees. Members of partner churches that support Hope Church were part of the volunteer team.
Word spread quickly about the incident and garnered the attention of New Orleans talk show host Denny Schaffer of Rush Radio 99.5 FM, WRNO.
Tipton also received email communications from Todd Starnes, FOX News Radio, who was in New Orleans for a book signing of his new and thought-provoking book, Dispatches from Bitter America.
Schaffer interviewed Tipton on-air by phone the following week. Tipton told Schaffer he didn’t know if the free distribution of water was a sales violation or if the infraction was advertising the church without a permit.
Schaffer asked Tipton to tell listeners what happened when he tried to get a permit. Tipton said he called the Citizen Affairs office, but soon realized the process was too lengthy to secure a permit this year.
Tipton then asked the representative if the church could serve some other way.
“We give [water bottles] out because we love the city and we think it’s what the Gospel ultimately leads us to do, to care and love the city,” Tipton told the radio audience. “But that’s not the only way to show love to the city.”
Tipton said he told the Citizen Affairs representative his church would be willing to clean port-a-potties or pick up trash after a parade. “There was this long pause,” Tipton said. “Then she said, ‘Really? Well, let me check with my supervisor.’”
“They probably don’t get requests like that too often,” Schaffer said. Then he quipped her possible query to her boss: “‘Some kooky Jesus Freak is on the phone and wants to clean out the port-a-lets. What do you want me to tell him?’”
At the conclusion of the interview, Schaffer said to his listeners, “Only the love of Jesus can put [service to others] in people.”
After the incident, Tipton emailed the Jefferson Parish Council members and other city departments in hopes of finding another way his church could serve during Mardi Gras.
The Baptist Message contacted Jefferson Parish Code Enforcement Director Tiffany Wilken for comment. Wilken’s department oversees the issuance of building permits, management of abandoned property, and new business startups. Wilken told the Message her office did not issue the warning.
Wilken contacted Tipton by conference call with two other parish officials after receiving the forwarded email and the phone call from the Message. Tipton said the call was friendly and that Wilken and the parish officials “listened first,” then asked what the church wanted to do.
“I basically got to share the Gospel and to tell them why we want to serve the city,” Tipton said. “People don’t understand that as Christians, we’re no longer living for ourselves, but for others.”
When parish officials told Tipton the church could serve in whatever way they saw fit as long as the volunteers didn’t distribute a product, the church decided to offer hand sanitizer to people standing in line at the port-a-potties at the parades.
“It was almost like a foot washing,” said Sam Hinkson, pastor of Gilead Baptist Church, Glendale, Ky, a partner church. “We had a very positive response.”
Hinkson said people were grateful, especially families with small children. The volunteers wore matching Hope Church t-shirts and stood by the port-a-potties in teams of two.
“There is never a shortage of conversation,” Hinkson said. “They’re curious and they like knowing you’re interested in New Orleans.” Hinkson said some shared their contact information with the volunteers and asked to know more about Hope Church. Hinkson’s seven-member team included a 19-year-old and a 70-year-old. The church has served in New Orleans five times.
Tipton said that even though the church missed its goal of handing out 10,000 water bottles at Mardi Gras this year, the exposure they received on radio and in the parish was “priceless.”
To partner with Hope Church, visit www.hopenola.com. For information about church planting, contact the Missions and Ministry Team at Louisiana Baptist Convention, www.lbc.org.