By Quinn Lavespere, Message Staff Writer   ESLER – Though not as big as many churches, Esler Baptist Church has become a definitive model of spreading the gospel of Jesus to others through its many missions, outstanding group unity and dedicated commitment to God’s word.   “If you want to call us something, call us ‘mission-minded,’ said Esler Pastor Mark Breland. “Esler has always had a tradition of being mission-minded, and we want to continue that tradition.”   Breland was surrounded by WMU director Jennifer Rogers, youth minister Brandon Penton and Helping Hands Ministry head Ray Powell as he was being interviewed. Each member spoke passionately about his/her roles in the church, the specific missions being carried out, and the church’s passion for Christ despite having only 90-100 members most times.   “We are partners with Lifepoint Ministries in Cottonport and Marksville, where Brandon works with pastor Jacob Crawford,” Rogers said. “We do a lot of things with them, such as a recent end-of-school bash where we gave away bicycles provided by Mr. Ray and Helping Hands Ministry. We have volunteers here that work at Main Street Mission, and every Friday we work with Holloway Baptist … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Message Staff Writer   URANIA – Pinehill Baptist Church Pastor David McGuffee is a pastor with radical ideas when it comes to the matter of getting out of debt.[img_assist|nid=7535|title=Debt free|desc=Pastor David McGuffee guided his church in paying off a $370,000 building loan in just six years. He now wants to share his experiences with other churches to help them avoid going into or staying in debt.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=480]   The pastor used his life-spanning experiences with debt to guide his church in paying off a building loan of $370,000 in just six years and now wants to share these experiences with other churches in order that they may avoid going into or staying in debt.   “Debt has wrecked many churches,” the pastor said. “Churches need to be really responsible with their money and open to the Lord’s guidance to avoid money problems.”   McGuffee said there were several reasons the church was able to pay off its debt.   “The first reason is God’s gracious giving,” the pastor said. “It would have been impossible for us to pay this off without God’s help. God even sent very generous people outside of our church that have given … [Read more...]

By Mark H. Hunter, Special to the Message   [img_assist|nid=7537|title=Tim Patrick|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=66|height=100]DERIDDER – Tim Patrick, director of missions for the Beauregard Association for the past 10 months, has set two goals for himself and the association.   He wants to first help the 47 member churches better meet the needs of their communities. Second, by drawing upon his three decades of pastoral experience, he wants to be a pastor to the association’s pastors.   “Because of some of the issues I’ve been through in my 34 years of pastoring, God’s given me a heart to serve pastors and those who are in the staff positions and the issues they face,” Patrick, 57, said. Although he’s earned a doctorate of ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he said he prefers to simply be called “Tim.”   His wife Judy, who also has a doctorate from NOBTS, is the association’s secretary. She also applies her education and experience to minister to pastor’s wives with counseling and serves in other women’s ministries, the DOM said.   Patrick was reared in Converse, La., the son of a Baptist deacon and Sunday School teacher. He graduated from high school … [Read more...]

By Mark H. Hunter, Special to the Message   [img_assist|nid=7539|title=Alan Knuckles|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]MAMOU – Alan Knuckles, who prefers to be called “brother” instead of “reverend,” became the director of missions in January for the Acadia, Louisiana, and Mt. Olive Associations, after a lifetime of ministry in Texas and Louisiana.   Although he grew up in the church in the Atlanta, Ga., area, Knuckles, 60, said he wasn’t saved until the age of 23 when he attended a Billy Graham Crusade in Raleigh, N.C.   He always loved working with horses on their small family farm, he said, so he attended the University of Georgia to become a veterinarian but dropped out after three years when he realized his grades weren’t high enough for vet school. He did, however, “ace” an engineering employment test with IBM Corporation, and got a job as a customer engineer that took him to Raleigh, where he met the Lord and received the call to full time ministry.   He transferred to Baylor University where he earned a degree in Religion in 1978 and attended Southwestern Seminary. He met his wife Helen at a summer camp.   “She had been a missionary to Cameroon, Africa for … [Read more...]

By Mark H. Hunter, Special to the Message   [img_assist|nid=7541|title=Tommy Middleton|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=82|height=100]BATON ROUGE – Longtime Woodlawn Baptist Church pastor Tommy G. Middleton is taking the reins of the Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge in late August.   The association has been without an executive director since Rodrick E. Conerly, 61, suffered a fatal heart attack a few days before Christmas 2010.   A third generation preacher, Middleton, 57, was scheduled to preach his last service at the 1,200 member Woodlawn Baptist on July 24.   “I’ve loved serving this church and we’ve loved the people here since the very beginning,” Middleton said of his 24 years at Woodlawn.   He will begin as BAGBR’s executive director on August 22.   The association is a group of 108 SBC churches, affiliated missions and organizations including the Gonzales Seaman’s Center, the LSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry and the Judson Retreat Center in St. Francisville.   During Middleton’s Woodlawn ministry, his innovative local evangelism and worldwide missions programs tripled the church’s membership. He also was involved in nearly all aspects … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   SHREVEPORT – The anticipated opening of Louisiana College’s Judge Paul Pressler School of Law has been pushed to the fall of 2013.   Scheduled to open in the fall of 2012, J. Michael Johnson, the founding dean of the school, said waiting until 2013 would allow the college additional  time to renovate the 158,000-square-foot Joe D. Waggonner Federal Building, recruit students and faculty, and to continue its efforts to raise the $22.7 million needed for the law school.   Johnson said, “It takes substantial time to create a superior program of legal education, and it is not a process we want to rush unnecessarily.”   The delay will give LC more time to complete the necessary renovations to the Waggoner building, which sat vacant for almost 12 years. Included in those renovations is the ardous task of removing of asbestos.   The law school was originally slated to be housed in the historic CNB/United Mercantile Building in Shreveport, but after consideration by school officials it was deemed too small to house the entire program and lacked sufficient parking, Johnson said.   The Waggonner building, which has parking for more than 300, is … [Read more...]

By Mark H. Hunter, Special to the Message   [img_assist|nid=7544|title=Stanley Statham|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=91|height=100]FRANKLINTON – Stanley Statham, director of missions for the three Baptist Associations of Southeast Louisiana, came to the ministry late in life, after a secular career as a paramedic.   Statham has been since October 2010, the DOM for the Two Rivers, Washington and William Wallace associations, a combined group of 86 churches that cover parts of six area parishes.   He is 48 years old, has been married to Tracy for 27 years; they have four children. He grew up in Decatur, Ga., where he was saved at the age of eight following a church service invitation.   “That morning a man explained to me exactly what all that meant and made sure I knew what I was doing,” Statham said. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m very specific with children” about the plan of salvation.   After graduating from high school, Statham was baptized at the age of 20, graduated from Dekalb Community College with an associate degree as a paramedic and went to work as a paramedic in the Atlanta, Ga., area.   “I had served as RA director for awhile at First Baptist … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message CLOUTIERVILLE – A dedication of Grace Baptist’s first-ever building is set for 3 p.m. Aug. 21 at the church, located about four miles south of town on Hwy 1. It’s Tim White’s first pastorate; he’s a roofer by trade. He started the church in 2006. “We had a group of us got together, prayed about it and came up with a plan to start a church,” White said. “God laid it all out.” Meeting in homes for Bible Study led this spring to a manufactured 32x90 vinyl-sided white building with a steeple on top. “The major challenge for us is to make an impact in the community,” the pastor continued. “We seem to be making headway.” A VBS July 15-17 led by a group from  Esler Baptist Church in Pineville helped, White said. At least 26 area  youngsters participated; 19 Esler workers  led in a Big Apple Adventure. About 35 attend Sunday morning worship. About 85 attended White’s ordination on June 26 at Grace Cloutierville. 0 … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   ARRIVALS, DEPARTURES   Cameron Theodos, new as music minister at Common Ground; from laity.   Terry Young, new as children’s minister at First West Monroe, from Calvary Shreveport.   Eddie Sirven, resigns as music/worship minister at Trinity Heights Shreveport, for new post at First Richland, Miss.   William Colvin, new as pastor at Calvary Homer.   David Savage, new as pastor at New Ebenezer Castor.   Bruce Knight, new as pastor at Emmanuel Arcadia.   Chris Holloway: new as Pastor of Little Pass, Charenton, from Oak Hill Many.   Shane (wife Michelle) Forest: new as associate pastor, and Michelle Forest: new as children and youth director at North Keithville in Keithville.Pastor: Clarence Chism.   Marcel Ronquille Jr.: new as pastor of Pleasant Hill Ruston.   Rick Williams: resigns as pastor of Mt. Union Spearsville to become a Navy chaplain.   Newton Smith: new as pastor of Bonita Baptist in Bonita.   Drew Coker: new as music minister of Clark Springs Eros.   Alan Miller: new as interim pastor of Parkview Monroe.   Jim Arrant: new as … [Read more...]

By Jerry Love, LBF's Director of Planned Giving   ALEXANDRIA – Neither the long hot days of summer nor sporadic thunderstorms could deter the Trustees of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation from their regular mid-summer meeting.   The Foundation’s Board of Trustees met July 26 at the Louisiana Baptist Building for their quarterly meeting, to review investment activity and operations.   The Investment Committee met during the early part of the morning and discussed several issues related to the LBF portfolio.   Lee Morris of Graystone Consulting gave a report on the performance of the funds’ managers and presented recommendations to enhance the Foundation’s portfolio.   Morris stated that the second quarter had been difficult because of the continued sluggish economic growth overall. However the performance returns for the Foundation’s investment funds remain positive for the year despite some individual monthly reporting periods showing declines.   As of the quarter ending June 30, 2011, the LBF equity fund had gained 2.51 percent for the year, with the Fixed Income Fund posting a 2.43 percent increase so far.   The Group Investment Fund, which comprised of … [Read more...]