Two plants in LaSalle Parish have shut down, leaving three hundred or more people without jobs.   Located in an abandoned Piggly Wiggly building in Jena, the LaSalle Missions and Ministry Center ministers to many of the people affected by the shutdowns and the loss of income.   Through the center, people are helped with clothing, food, furniture, and Christian counseling. A chapel in the facility also is projected for the future. Note: The following is the first in a series of articles to be published in the Baptist Message regarding the Cooperative Program and how it is at work throughout Louisiana. Subsequent articles will appear during the year to highlight Cooperative Program missions and ministry work. This article is by retired Louisiana Baptist Convention Church-Minister Relations Director James Carter about the importance of the Cooperative Program.   Two plants in LaSalle Parish have shut down, leaving three hundred or more people without jobs.   Located in an abandoned Piggly Wiggly building in Jena, the LaSalle Missions and Ministry Center ministers to many of the people affected by the shutdowns and the loss of income.   Through the center, people … [Read more...]

For the week of February 13, 2003 Potpourri • WEST MONROE - Ridge Avenue church: Jake Hess, along with Golden Covenant, in concert; Feb. 23, 6 p.m.; David Maxwell, pastor.   • WINNFIELD - First church: Brothers Keeper in concert; Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m.; Lindsey Burns, pastor.   • HORNBECK - First church: Wild game feast; Feb. 21, 6 p.m.; David Crane, guest speaker; Jerry D. Key, pastor.   • BATON ROUGE - Immanuel church: Jamie Chaney Womack, special guest speaker; Feb. 23, 10:30 a.m.; Steve Johnson, pastor.   • HEFLIN - Bistineau church: Domino Tournament; Feb. 22, 12 noon; Everett Geis, Jr., pastor.   • SLAUGHTER - First church: The Providential Quartet in concert; Feb. 23, 11 a.m.; Basil Wicker, pastor.   • CAMERON - Johnson Bayou church: Men and women’s conference; Feb. 14, 6:30 p.m. and Feb. 15, 11 a.m.; "Step" and Pat Martin, conference leaders; Les Fogleman, pastor.   • MORGAN CITY - Bayou Vista church: Gulf Coast Association Evangelism Rally; Feb. 23, 6 p.m.; Jerry F. Pipes, guest evangelist; Charles Gilder, pastor.   • BATON ROUGE - Foster Road church: The Providentials in concert; Feb. 16, 6 p.m.; Huey Moak, … [Read more...]

A church has three responsibilities related to personnel matters - to screen properly, supervise properly and discipline properly, Southern Baptist attorney Randy Singer said.   "There’s a great trust placed in a church by its members to choose carefully its leaders and volunteers who work with children and some of the most vulnerable members of our society," explained Singer, a member at Bridgeway Baptist Church in Atlanta and executive vice president of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board. Note: The following is the second of four articles to be presented on "The Church and the Law." This week’s article focuses on personnel issues for the church. Ensuing articles will focus on First Amendment and political/moral issues. The series of articles was commissioned by the Association of State Baptist Papers.   A church has three responsibilities related to personnel matters - to screen properly, supervise properly and discipline properly, Southern Baptist attorney Randy Singer said.   "There’s a great trust placed in a church by its members to choose carefully its leaders and volunteers who work with children and some of the most vulnerable members of our society," … [Read more...]

Astronauts Rick Husband and Michael Anderson were remembered in their home church Feb. 2 as men who lived for God more than ones who had achieved childhood dreams of space flight.   Husband, 45, was commander of space shuttle Columbia on its most-recent flight. Anderson, 43, was payload commander.   Both were among the seven astronauts killed Feb. 1 when the spacecraft broke apart and disintegrated over Texas.   Both also attended Grace Community Church, an interdenominational church in the Houston suburb of Clear Lake. Astronauts Rick Husband and Michael Anderson were remembered in their home church Feb. 2 as men who lived for God more than ones who had achieved childhood dreams of space flight.   Husband, 45, was commander of space shuttle Columbia on its most-recent flight. Anderson, 43, was payload commander.   Both were among the seven astronauts killed Feb. 1 when the spacecraft broke apart and disintegrated over Texas.   Both also attended Grace Community Church, an interdenominational church in the Houston suburb of Clear Lake.   "Rick and Mike were men who fervently lived for God," senior pastor Steve Riggle told mourners on Feb. 2. … [Read more...]

For the week of February 20, 2003 Louisiana College Louisiana College has been accepted into the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, school President Rory Lee announced. "We are delighted to have Louisiana College as part of this growing international movement of intentionally Christian colleges and universities," council President Robert Andringa said. The council is a higher education association of more than 150 Christ-centered institutions around the world, including 105 North American campuses. The council’s stated mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by relating scholarship and service to biblical truth. With acceptance into the organization, all those at Louisiana College now may access more than 3,000 pages of information at www.cccu.org.news, including job openings, research and survey results, publications, news and other resources. Louisiana College trustees had asked school leaders to pursue membership in the council as a means of providing development opportunities for faculty members and personnel resources for school leaders. Now is the time Now - more than ever - is the time for missions leaders to display … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists lost last week a true friend, and I lost a personal friend. Last Thursday, the Lord had Robert L. Lee fold his earthly tent and come home to his permanent residence God had prepared for him..   Bob Lee lived and led in a way that should be an example to those of us who are still granted life on this earth. He loved Louisiana Baptists collectively, and when he knew them personally, he loved them that way. It was from this deep love that his leadership style grew. Louisiana Baptists lost last week a true friend, and I lost a personal friend. Last Thursday, the Lord had Robert L. Lee fold his earthly tent and come home to his permanent residence God had prepared for him..   Bob Lee lived and led in a way that should be an example to those of us who are still granted life on this earth. He loved Louisiana Baptists collectively, and when he knew them personally, he loved them that way. It was from this deep love that his leadership style grew.   For almost 25 years, I had the joy of serving with Bob Lee, as well as enjoying a personal friendship with him. I watched as Dr. Lee showered love and kindness upon people of all strata of society in general, and Louisiana … [Read more...]

Taylor and Susan Field   One might well say that Taylor and Susan Field’s commitment to inner city missions work was sealed with a kiss some 23 years ago.   That is when the couple got married - just a year after both served as summer missionaries in New York. He was a seminary student at neighboring Princeton Theological Seminary and was serving at a Baptist ministry center in Harlem. She was a junior at Emory University in Atlanta and led children’s day camps in nearby Queens. Taylor and Susan Field   One might well say that Taylor and Susan Field’s commitment to inner city missions work was sealed with a kiss some 23 years ago.   That is when the couple got married - just a year after both served as summer missionaries in New York. He was a seminary student at neighboring Princeton Theological Seminary and was serving at a Baptist ministry center in Harlem. She was a junior at Emory University in Atlanta and led children’s day camps in nearby Queens.   About a year into their marriage, the Fields moved to Hong Kong, where they served as Southern Baptist missions workers for two years, teaching at a Baptist college.   Then, it was back to the United … [Read more...]

Robert Lett Lee, who served Louisiana Baptists as a "servant leader" for 30 years, died Feb. 13 in Alexandria. He was 87.   "Dr. Lee was known as a beloved friend to Louisiana Baptists and to pastors in particular," said Dean Doster, executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, a position Lee held from 1956 to 1986. Robert Lett Lee, who served Louisiana Baptists as a "servant leader" for 30 years, died Feb. 13 in Alexandria. He was 87.   "Dr. Lee was known as a beloved friend to Louisiana Baptists and to pastors in particular," said Dean Doster, executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, a position Lee held from 1956 to 1986.   "He served Louisiana Baptists for more than 30 years with distinction and always a vision for the future," Doster continued. "The building that houses the Louisiana Baptist Convention now was built during his tenure.   "He has been a faithful supporter to Louisiana Baptist missions in his retirement," Doster said. "He personally has supported me as executive director.   "He will be missed by all of us."   During Lee’s three-decade tenure as Louisiana Baptist Convention executive director, he led the … [Read more...]

Christmas came a little early for a group of firemen and policemen in New York City last year, thanks to a group of Louisiana State University Baptist Campus Ministries students.   There for a week-long missions trip a few days before Christmas, 92 students and staff from the Baton Rouge and Shreveport campuses ministered in a variety of ways, one of which was leading Christmas parties at fire and police stations. Christmas came a little early for a group of firemen and policemen in New York City last year, thanks to a group of Louisiana State University Baptist Campus Ministries students.   There for a week-long missions trip a few days before Christmas, 92 students and staff from the Baton Rouge and Shreveport campuses ministered in a variety of ways, one of which was leading Christmas parties at fire and police stations.   Two years ago, the Baptist Campus Ministries students sang at fire stations in New York City and was invited back again because it was such an encouragement to the men, says Steve Master, Baptist Campus Ministries director at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.   Following that visit, the majority of the police and fire stations the students … [Read more...]

We have all been shocked and grieved by the recent shuttle disaster, and I venture to say that many of us were deeply saddened by the loss of our three dear missionaries in Yemen on December 30, 2002 - namely, Martha Myers, William Koehn and Kathleen Gariety. We have all been shocked and grieved by the recent shuttle disaster, and I venture to say that many of us were deeply saddened by the loss of our three dear missionaries in Yemen on December 30, 2002 - namely, Martha Myers, William Koehn and Kathleen Gariety.   There is a monument in Houston for the astronauts who perished in the explosion of the shuttle a few years back. Their names are engraved on the granite or marble memorial. In Nashville, Tenn., there is a Country Music Hall of Fame. In other places, we have baseball and football halls of fame. In the religious department, there is the Vatican with its hall of saints. Even our colleges have pictures of their ex-presidents and hospitals of their prominent physicians.   Do you not think that in Nashville, the site of the headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention, or another appropriate location that we could establish an archives or Hall of Remembrance for Missionaries slain … [Read more...]