Of the $6,116,151.49 distributed to date in Louisiana ... following is a detailed list of how the money is/is to be spent: Of the $6,116,151.49 distributed to date in Louisiana, $243,000 has been directed to pastor and staff assistance, • $1,815,053.01 to churches enrolled in the national Adopt A Church (AAC) program; • $1,101,973.77 to non-AAC-enrolled churches, and to associations; • $243,684.37 for pastor/staff assistance; • $802,729.80 for church rebuilding and new construction. Of the nearly $5.8 million not yet disbursed, • $700,000 has been allocated for churches enrolled in AAC, and to assist when partners fail to follow through; • $800,000 for non-adopted churches; • $300,000 for pastor/staff assistance; and • $3.6 million for church rebuilding and new construction. • The remaining $475,326.18 is in a ‘general disaster relief’ fund for disaster relief units and related equipment and supplies, as well as the training of workers. … [Read more...]
Disaster Relief volunteers
Louisianian Disaster Relief volunteers ... list of what was done Louisianian Disaster Relief volunteers helped in a variety of ways during the Katrina response 7,805,835 meals prepared 43,183 showers provided 14,122 laundry loads washed and dried 12,040 gallons of water distributed 1,757 children cared for 6,765 yards cleaned 523 homes gutted and/or repaired … [Read more...]
Volunteers help, tell about Jesus
Evangelism usually doesn’t happen spontaneously. People tend to come to the Lord because someone intended to tell them. NEW ORLEANS – As the sun was slipping behind the silhouette of the Superdome, a mailman stopped to pick up his evening supply of water and canned goods. The workers of the distribution tent allowed him to come after-hours because his job started before the distribution tent was open and quitting time was long after the tent closed. Butch McGinnis, from First Southern Baptist Church of Del City, Oklahoma, headed the relief effort at the time. He let the mailman in the locked gate as he did most evenings. However, this evening Butch asked the man a simple question. “You know, we’ve been talking all these evenings about a relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t you think it’s about time you started one?” To which the response came, “I think you’re right.” Butch and the mailman knelt on the still warm asphalt, amid cases of food stacked between tractor trailers. The man, who wanted food that was perishable, left with the imperishable Bread of Life. The greatest aspect of the Cooperative Program for this New Orleans area pastor is not the financial gifts for pastors and churches, the Disaster Relief kitchens that … [Read more...]
Franklin Avenue moves forward
HOUSTON – The 650 members of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church West, who meet at 1 p.m. each Sunday at First Baptist Houston, have a new pastor and are looking for a church building they can call ‘home.’ HOUSTON – The 650 members of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church West, who meet at 1 p.m. each Sunday at First Baptist Houston, have a new pastor and are looking for a church building they can call ‘home.’ The numbers of Franklin Avenue members who meet at 1p.m. the first and third Sunday of each month at Istrouma Baptist in Baton Rouge have fallen to about 300; many members have returned to New Orleans or moved elsewhere. The 1,300 or more members of Franklin Avenue who meet at 7:30 a.m. each Sunday at First Baptist New Orleans are looking forward to getting back in their own building, but new mold recently was discovered, which has delayed the renovation project. Fred Luter, pastor of what pre-Katrina was the largest (about 6,000) Sunday-morning congregation in Louisiana, continues the circuit-riding role he started in January. “I’ve cried more these last months than I ever had all of my life,” Luter said. “It mostly happens when I travel to different places and see former members of the church. We had a close fellowship; just … [Read more...]
First New Orleans sets new course
NEW ORLEANS – First Baptist Church here will never be the same, says its pastor, David Crosby. NEW ORLEANS – First Baptist Church here will never be the same, says its pastor, David Crosby. The congregation has been turned around by the ministry needs it’s encountered over the last 12 months, Crosby said. It’s a transformation that started with the church leadership, and came to full focus in the aftermath of Katrina keelhauling the city. “We were having our best attendance in many years,” said Crosby, pastor since 1996. “We were reaping the benefits of our recent relocation. Sunday school attendance was over 700; worship was about 900; we had baptized about 80 people since moving in 2004, which was very good for us. “But what God was doing in my heart was calling me to a new engagement in the community,” Crosby continued. “I felt like the church – not only my church but lots of churches – were not fully connected to their community, that often we were mighty in word but not in deed. I wanted to see my church mighty in deed.” Crosby preached a series on “Mighty In Deed” during the summer of 2005 and launched the Baptist Crossroads project that he’d envisioned a year before: building 40 homes in partnership with Habitat for … [Read more...]
Insurance claims bless and stress churches
NEW ORLEANS--The people in the New Orleans area know that it is one thing to have insurance and quite another thing to have an insurance check. The pastors and laity who are dealing with insurance issues for their churches are expressing a range of emotions from blessed to stressed. NEW ORLEANS--The people in the New Orleans area know that it is one thing to have insurance and quite another thing to have an insurance check. The pastors and laity who are dealing with insurance issues for their churches are expressing a range of emotions from blessed to stressed. The congregations having the most difficulty are the ones caught in a battle with their insurers over the percentage of wind versus floodwater damage to the buildings. “We had a hard time getting [the insurance company] to talk to us. They wouldn’t return our calls,” said James Melerine, pastor of Delacroix Hope. “We had one guy tell us ... we still had our roof and studs. I asked him, which church are you looking at?” Because the church was so close to the water, the congregation built it 14 feet high. The hurricane left only the cinderblock columns that supported the structure. The church was able to settle with their insurance company for 80 percent of the … [Read more...]
Insurance claims bless and stress churches
NEW ORLEANS--The people in the New Orleans area know that it is one thing to have insurance and quite another thing to have an insurance check. The pastors and laity who are dealing with insurance issues for their churches are expressing a range of emotions from blessed to stressed. NEW ORLEANS--The people in the New Orleans area know that it is one thing to have insurance and quite another thing to have an insurance check. The pastors and laity who are dealing with insurance issues for their churches are expressing a range of emotions from blessed to stressed. The congregations having the most difficulty are the ones caught in a battle with their insurers over the percentage of wind versus floodwater damage to the buildings. “We had a hard time getting [the insurance company] to talk to us. They wouldn’t return our calls,” said James Melerine, pastor of Delacroix Hope. “We had one guy tell us ... we still had our roof and studs. I asked him, which church are you looking at?” Because the church was so close to the water, the congregation built it 14 feet high. The hurricane left only the cinderblock columns that supported the structure. The church was able to settle with their insurance company for 80 percent of the … [Read more...]
Housing options await vols
The volunteers working on these projects and others need inexpensive lodging, and Tobey Pittman has the $20/night answer: Volunteer Village. NEW ORLEANS – Hundreds of volunteers arrive each month to help Southern Baptists’ multiple recovery operations here. Baptist Crossroads is the largest residential construction project in the city. Already 30 homes have been completed; 10 more are under construction and 160 are on the books to follow by 2008. Project NOAH Rebuild’s goal is 1,000 homes and 20 churches to be rebuilt within two years, and they’re gutting hundreds of homes. First Baptist New Orleans wants to gut 1,000 homes by the end of the year. Many other churches in Greater New Orleans are in rebuild mode, and in helping restore the people and neighborhoods around their churches. The volunteers working on these projects and others need inexpensive lodging, and Tobey Pittman has the answer: Volunteer Village. This is three floors in the downtown World Trade Center, a block from the French Quarter. Originally designed to house construction workers, Pittman – longtime director of the Brantley homeless shelter – bought the contents, which includes an industrial-sized kitchen – and made a deal with the … [Read more...]
God honors faithfulness, Grace learns
SLIDELL – Post-Katrina, half its members moved away, putting the church in an even more precarious financial position. But, said Jerry Smith, associate pastor in charge of disaster relief at Grace, “One of the big things God has taught us is that whenever we’re faithful to serve, He is faithful to provide and bless.” SLIDELL—Despite having about 600 in regular attendance, Grace Memorial Baptist Church, one of seven Southern Baptist churches in Slidell, was almost $150,000 behind budget when Katrina struck. Afterwards, half its members moved away, putting the church in an even more precarious financial position. But, said Jerry Smith, associate pastor in charge of disaster relief at Grace, “One of the big things God has taught us is that whenever we’re faithful to serve, He is faithful to provide and bless.” God gave them an opportunity to serve, despite their own struggles, and Grace Memorial accepted the challenge. Now, Grace is about $20,000 above budget. “Had we not been faithful in opening our doors and serving others as God gave us opportunity, we likely would have missed the blessing of financial resources and other blessings too,” said Bob Heustess, senior pastor. Having lost only their steeple and minor roof … [Read more...]
Northshore’s gains outweigh losses
SLIDELL – A year after its 17,000 square foot, leased building was demolished by Katrina, Northshore Baptist Church continues to “impact the North Shore of New Orleans by reaching the unchurched and leading them to become disciples of Christ,” said Larry McEwen, senior pastor. SLIDELL – A year after its 17,000 square foot, leased building was demolished by Katrina, Northshore Baptist Church continues to “impact the North Shore of New Orleans by reaching the unchurched and leading them to become disciples of Christ,” said Larry McEwen, senior pastor. And they plan on continuing to connect “disconnected people with Christ through worship, small groups, and missions,” despite the fact that they have no building of their own, McEwen said. The “walls were blown out by the storm surge. The floor in the worship center buckled over a foot. The water level in the building settled to 5 1/2 feet,” and the sound equipment, the computers, and the pastor’s library were all destroyed, said McEwen of the building that had housed Northshore pre-Katrina. The $100,000 they had invested in the building was lost. The week after the storm, 82 people, all that was left of a congregation that had hit 398 the Sunday before Katrina struck, … [Read more...]
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