By Gary D. Myers, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustee chairman Frank Cox announced the names for the 11-member presidential search committee today (Oct. 11) and called on Southern Baptists to pray through the search process. "We ask that Southern Baptists pray for us as we seek God's man to lead New Orleans Seminary into the next century of ministry here in New Orleans and surrounding regions," Cox said. The NOBTS bylaws call for the trustee chairman to appoint a committee with 11 voting members -- including the board chairman, the immediate past chairman, one faculty member, one student and seven other board members. The president search committee is as follows: -- Bryant Barnes, trustee; pastor, First Baptist Church, Columbia, Miss.; -- Jack Bell, trustee; pastor, First Baptist Church, Hornbeck, La.; -- Frank Cox, trustee chairman; pastor, North Metro Baptist Church, Lawrenceville, Ga.; -- John Foster, trustee; retired educator, New Orleans; -- David Leavell, trustee; pastor, First Baptist Church, Millington, Tenn.; -- Jackie Myers, trustee; education specialist, Sicily Island, La.; -- Gary Shows, trustee; pastor, Temple Baptist Church, … [Read more...]

By Gary D. Myers, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustees named Chuck Kelley as chancellor of the school through July 31, 2019, and approved the accelerated M.Div. program during their fall meeting Oct. 3. Kelley announced his plans to retire from the school on July 31, 2019, during the Oct. 2 Founders' Day chapel service. As a result, much of the board's work at the fall meeting centered on helping Kelley finish his presidential tenure and beginning the search for the next president. Naming Kelley chancellor was a required step in the initiation of the presidential search process. The bylaws state that the office of president must be vacant before the trustees can initiate the search. The role of chancellor clearly indicates the seminary will continue normal operations under Kelley's leadership while the trustees seek the next leader. Kelley expressed a strong desire to see a successor elected by the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year. This move makes this goal a possibility. "The combination of a strong, healthy board, a planned transition, and a clear process is a great blessing for our seminary," Kelley said. "We were able to work through all the issues and … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Louisiana Baptist state missions staff updated Executive Board members on progress made to reach the next generation with the Gospel by 2020. “It’s axiomatic that if you do not reach the next generation that you won’t have another generation of the church,” Louisiana Baptists Executive Director David Hankins said during the September 25 Executive Board meeting at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center in Woodworth. “We know the Lord has promised that won’t happen because the gates of death will never be strong against the church on the earth. There will always be another church. But we have a duty to give ourselves to that.” The next generation is one of two groups identified as a target audience in the President’s 2020 Commission Report. Adopted by messengers at the 2013 Louisiana Baptist Convention annual meeting, the 2020 initiative seeks to reach every generation and every people group in Louisiana with the Gospel by the year 2020 through the avenues of congregational revitalization, church planting, communications and collaboration. “We are asking God to give us favor as we concentrate on this last facet in these last months of the 2020 effort to do some things … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Louisiana Baptists will be operating in 2019 with a leaner Cooperative Program budget. During a September 25 meeting at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center in Woodworth, the Executive Board approved the Business and Finance Committee’s 2019 financial plan based on Cooperative Program contributions of $18,813,818, a decrease of $693,587. Cooperative Program projections are based on actual receipts from August 2017 through July 2018. The allocation formula for distributing Cooperative Program gifts between the Southern Baptist Convention and Louisiana Baptist causes remains unchanged, with 63.26 percent supporting ministries in the state and 36.74 percent forwarded to fund national entities. This equates to $11,901,622 in Cooperative Program funds for Louisiana Baptist missions, a decrease of $438,579 from 2018. “According to a recent news story, unemployment in Louisiana has increased over the last several months, in spite of a stronger economy nationally,” Louisiana Baptists Business and Information Services Director Dale Lingenfelter told the Baptist Message. “The 2019 budget reflects this reality. “However, we know God is faithful, and so are His … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Louisiana College President Rick Brewer beamed with excitement as he shared with Executive Board members how God provided funds to renovate Guinn Auditorium, a facility that reopened August 23 after construction work forced its closure for the last two years. “To God be the glory for what He has done,” Brewer said during the Executive Board meeting September 25 at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center. “We’re going to enjoy this building for many, many years to come.” The 1,661-seat facility, which is used for chapel services, commencement exercises and other large gatherings, received new lights, sound system, HVAC, roof, ceiling, walls, floor and seats. Guinn Auditorium is one of 18 buildings on campus that received interior and exterior improvements after GuideOne Insurance approved a claim for $18 million of projects that stem from an April 2015 hail storm. The school contacted GuideOne to request an inspection, which revealed the refurbishment would be rather costly but the insurer agreed to cover all the repairs. Brewer invited Executive Board members to attend a re-dedication celebration of Guinn Auditorium September 30. Special guests were to include … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Momentum is building for what could be one of the largest multi-denominational evangelistic outreaches ever in Central Louisiana. The Hope4U GO TELL Crusade will be held Oct. 14-17 at the Rapides Parish Coliseum, and has support from at least 50 churches in the CenLa Baptist Association as well as congregations from other denominations. Rick Gage, founder of GO TELL Crusades in Duluth, Georgia, team evangelist Ken Freeman, founder of Ken Freeman Ministries in Martindale, Texas, and Scott Camp, founder of Discover Joy Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas, will bring Gospel messages. Meanwhile, award-winning Christian bands Rush of Fools and NewSong will be joined by an area-wide mass choir as well as the GO TELL worship team to share about Christ through music. “When the body of Christ comes together, works together, prays together, and fasts together, it builds unity and builds a synergy where the body of Christ can have a huge spiritual impact in a community,” Gage said. “The key to a successful outreach event in addition to the leadership and preparation it builds unity, as one, for the purpose of reaching the lost. That’s one of the byproducts of these events that it … [Read more...]

By Kirbi Cochran, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE (LBM) – Louisiana College professor Wade Warren wants to provide Louisiana’s science teachers with the necessary stepping stones to begin teaching a more complete curriculum on evolutionary biology. So he is writing a book, “Education Standards and Evolution.” Warren, who holds a doctorate in zoology with an emphasis in neuroscience, specializes in anatomy, physiology and teaches a master’s degree course on the significance of teaching. “The teachers don’t know their rights – what they can and cannot do. So, my book is a launching pad for them to be informed,” he told the Baptist Message. Warren’s book will provide teachers with a simple framework for lessons that will allow them to teach evolution from a perspective that includes contradicting information. He said many teachers in Louisiana are not aware of the large gaps in evolutionary theory, and that they also are unaware of the freedom, guaranteed by law, to expose these gaps to their students by presenting opposing research. In June 2008, Louisiana enacted the Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows teachers to use supplemental information that presents an opposing view to information provided in … [Read more...]

WASHINGTON - Congressmen Ralph Abraham, M.D., R-Alto, and Brian Babin, R-Texas, have created a bipartisan I-14 Caucus with the goal of expanding Interstate 14 through Central Louisiana. This news follows the announcement this summer of legislation, HR 6111, the I-14 Expansion and Improvement Act of 2018, to designate existing roads into the congressionally designated I-14 corridor to include communities from Midland, Texas, to Laurel, Mississippi within a strategic corridor effectively connecting military bases from El Paso, Texas, to Charleston, South Carolina, with strategic ports where military equipment can be shipped in support of  our armed forces deployed around the world. In Louisiana, portions of LA 8, LA 28 and US 84 would be included in the I-14 corridor, giving Fort Polk and Camp Beauregard quicker access to the deployment port in Beaumont, Texas. Other state and federal highways near Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, Texas, and north of the Beaumont would also be added into the I-14 corridor. But the interstate will extend through Mississippi and Alabama and continue to Augusta, Georgia, where it would connect, presumably, with Interstate 20 which connects with Interstate 26 to the Atlantic … [Read more...]