The Baptist Foundation, Baptist Employees of Louisiana (BEL) Credit Union and Baptist Message all expect to return to the Baptist Building sometime this year.
ALEXANDRIA – The Baptist Foundation, Baptist Employees of Louisiana (BEL) Credit Union and Baptist Message all expect to return to the Baptist Building sometime this year.
The return of the affiliate entities of the Louisiana Baptist Convention is a result of building maintenance upgrades, sound business practices and greater efficiency with Cooperative Program dollars, LBC officials say.
“We live in extraordinary economic times,” said David Hankins, executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. “All across the landscape of Southern Baptist life, state conventions and their ministries are examining the use of every dollar. The Louisiana Baptist Convention is no exception. Anything we can do to be more efficient with our overall costs that go to utilities or operations allows us to invest more into Kingdom ministry.”
The plan is that the affiliate organizations will return to the Baptist Building and the properties they have been in are to be leased for income to pay for continuing maintenance of the Baptist Building.
The Baptist Building is 50 years old this year, LBC Business Manager Dale Lingenfelter explained.
“We were still using the original heating and air conditioning system,” Lingenfelter said. “That is really what began to drive this process.” Necessary repairs were more than the value of the aged system, the business manager added.
What could pay for the $900,000 cost of a new HVAC system without using Cooperative Program dollars? Was there a way to be more efficient for the cause of Christ? Where can we find a new revenue stream to pay for not only the costs of the new HVAC system, but also maintenance of it and eventual replacement of it, if the Lord tarries? These were some of the questions in Lingenfelter’s mind, he said in conversation with the Message.
“Our staff was much larger in the past,” the business manager said. “There were probably twice as many people in the building at one time than there are now.”
The six-person Baptist Message staff – which today is a 5-person staff – was the first LBC entity to move out of the Baptist Building. That was in January 1985, after LBC purchased the property next door, north of the parking lot. The building that had been a bar could be used for the Message and LBC storage.
“There was a problem with beer cans and beer bottles in the Baptist Building parking lot,” said Joanne Brechtel, administrative editor and 25-year Message staffer. “It was Dr. Lee [then LBC executive director] who was upset about that. He wanted to clean up the area.”
The Foundation and Credit Union moved out in 1998, to a building behind the Baptist Building, when LBC Church Minister Relations and a staffer who promoted GuideStone Financial Resources vacated that LBC-owned property. Church minister relations, now known as pastoral leadership, returned at that time to the Baptist Building. The GuideStone position was defunded.
“It will be beneficial to the LBF to be back in the Baptist Building,” said LBF Executive Director Wayne Taylor. “First of all it is a good use of Baptist resources. It will also help the LBF be more visible to Convention employees and those visiting the Baptist Building.
“People who use the Foundation services can easily find our office located in the ‘big’ Baptist Building right on MacArthur Dr. here in Alexandria,” Taylor said. The Foundation’s suite of offices will be to the left on the ground floor, in space formerly occupied by the LBC business office.
The business office’s move was phase one, Lingenfelter said. They moved to a renovated conference suite on the second floor, so their first floor space could be renovated for the Foundation.
The BEL Credit Union also is to be on the first floor of the Baptist Building, at the right rear, with a drive-through as is typical with banking institutions.
The Message is to be on the third floor, adjacent to the LBC Archives and the LBC audio/video studios.
“As soon as each office suite is ready, the entity will move in,” Lingenfelter said. He projected a summer or early fall completion date for the moves.
“We welcome the Louisiana Baptist Foundation, the Baptist Message and the Baptist Employees Credit Union back into the ample space available in the Baptist Building,” Hankins said. “We are confident the change in location complements the cooperative attitude that is permeating our Louisiana Baptist culture. Also, we believe this move back to the building will create great synergy and will enhance our inter-ministry communications.”