By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer An order by the Obama administration that public schools and universities permit transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the gender identity of their choosing has drawn opposition from many Louisiana Baptists. Issued on Friday, the order signed by Department of Education and Justice officials threaten to pull federal funding for schools that do not comply. A letter on the matter was sent to all school districts in the U.S. “Schools have a responsibility to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, including transgender students,” the letter said. “Harassment that targets a student based on gender identity, transgender status, or gender transition is harassment based on sex, and the Departments enforce Title IX accordingly. If sex-based harassment creates a hostile environment, the school must take prompt and effective steps to end the harassment, prevent its recurrence, and, as appropriate, remedy its effects. A school’s failure to treat students consistent with their gender identity may create or contribute to a hostile environment in violation of Title IX.” The letter said a school can provide separate facilities based on the … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message WINNSBORO - Memorial services for Pastor Joel Senn, 63, of Rayville will be held at 10 a.m., May 16 at Crockett Point Baptist Church in Winnsboro, with Eddie Wren and Robert Warren officiating under the direction of Brown-Holley Funeral Home in Rayville Senn was born Feb. 25, 1953 in Rayville and passed away Friday, May 13, 2016 in Rayville. A member of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Board and the Pledge Leadership team,. Mr. Joe was a member of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Properties, Executive Board, and the Pledge Leadership Program. Casey Johnson, pastor of Bonita Road Baptist Church in Bastrop and a former staff member at Crockett Point, wrote this on his Facebook page, “Words cannot express my heart. There are feelings of sadness, yet feelings of joy. The Apostle Paul said it best, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." His heart was to be with his people but he understood the glory that awaited him … glory that is indescribable. A glory that I heard Joe Senn speak of during the years of I spent in ministry with him. “Yesterday, that indescribable glory became His own,” Johnson continued. “His faith has now been made sight. His presence will be missed but his legacy lives … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message CROWVILLE -- Joe Senn, the pastor of Crockett Point Baptist Church in Crowville, passed away today according to the church’s Facebook page. “Please pray for our church. Bro. Joe Senn went to his heavenly reward this afternoon,” read the Facebook post. “Pray for his wife, Brenda and his children and grandchildren.” Pastor Craig Beeman, pastor of First Baptist Winnsboro, and Bodie Spicer, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Bastrop, confirmed Senn’s passing asking for prayers for him, his family and his church. Both men are trustees for the Louisiana Baptist Message. “It appears Brother Joe passed away today,” said Beeman. “Pray for the Joe Senn Family. Also, please be in prayer for Crockett Point.” Spicer added, “Praying for Crockett Point Baptist Church and for Brother Joe’s family.” Crockett Point’s pastor for the past 16 years, Senn, a former evangelist, was preparing to lead revival services beginning Sunday at Mineral Springs Baptist Church in Dubach. He spent more than 30 years in ministry. When Senn took over in 1990, the church had fewer than 100 people. But in 15 years, he has helped the congregation to more than 250 participating at Sunday morning worship. In 2015, Crockett Point … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor BATON ROUGE — Almost one-third of Louisiana’s 105 members of the state’s House of Representatives signed a letter Friday asking Attorney General Jeff Landry to determine the constitutionality of separate executive orders issued by the U.S. president and Louisiana’s governor pertaining to the apparent creation of a new protected class, “gender identity.” In a joint letter to the attorney general, 32 representatives said President Barack Obama’s directive issued Friday which “implements new policies to allow ‘transgender’ students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex” was in direct conflict with federal and state court rulings that “already rejected arguments that Title IX and related federal regulations require schools to provide student access to opposite-sex restrooms and changing areas.” The legislators noted Louisiana law does not recognize transgender persons as a special class, but the signers of the letter still believed “every person deserves respect and dignity.” However, they clarified that “keeping the sexes separate for the purposes of bathroom and locker room access, for example, is important for the privacy and safety of the children and adults of our state.” The … [Read more...]

By Jerry Love, LBF Communications ALEXANDRIA – Columbia’s Bruce McGee won individual honors and First Baptist Church of DeRidder convincingly reclaimed team title honors May 9-10 at the annual Baptist Golf Fellowship. McGee, a retired pastor who is now serving as an evangelist, shot an impressive one-over par (73) at the 18-hole, par 72 Oak Wing Golf Course facility  to earn the title of Grand Champion while First Baptist DeRidder, after having their win streak stopped six months earlier, reclaimed the team title with a combined 314 score. Last fall First DeRidder lost by two strokes to Unity Baptist Church in Cotton Valley. Members of the winning team included Tony Branham, Jerry Istre, Eddie Joslin and Chad Johnson. Eighty pastors and laymen enjoyed pleasant weather, good fellowship and a couple rounds of golf May 9-10 at the annual spring Baptist Golf Fellowship held recently at Oak Wing. The Fellowship, sponsored by the Louisiana Baptist Foundation and the Baptist Message, is a time for pastors and laypersons to come together for a little light-hearted competition around the game of golf. Medalist and Team play was completed on Monday afternoon. During the evening banquet at the Baptist Building trophies were given … [Read more...]

Horseshoe Baptist Church, Mer Rouge: Spring Revival, April 15-18, Sunday and 6 p.m.; Monday-Wednesday, 7 p.m. Speaker: Greg Pierce. Pastor: Bob Lonadier. New Hope Baptist Church, Jonesboro: Harvest Sunday, May 15, 11 a.m. Evangelist: Scotty McDowell, chalk artist. Pastor: Hudey Beaubouef. First Baptist Church, Albany: Revival, May 15-18. Evangelist: Lyndon Longoria. Music: Scott Munson. Pilgrims Rest Baptist Church, Spearsville: Harvest Day, May 15, 10:45 a.m. Evangelist: Sam Moore. Pastor: Adam Hill. Lake St. John Baptist Church, Ferriday: Revival, May 18-21, 6:30 p.m., Evangelist: Scotty McDowell, chalk artist. Pastor: Mark Richardson. Bellwood Baptist Church, Provencal: May 22-25. Evangelist: Scotty McDowell, chalk artist. Pastor: Roger Matkin New Hope Baptist Church, DeQuincy: Revival May 22-25. Evangelist: Bill Britt. Worship: Mackey Willis Family. Pastor: Roland Hebert Mt Pleasant Baptist Church, Columbia: May 29, Evangelist: Lyndon Longoria. Pastor: Jerry Hendrickson New Beginnings Baptist Church, Castor: Revival, May 29-June 1. Evangelist: Scotty McDowell, chalk artist. Pastor: David Boyler … [Read more...]

MONROE -- A construction company has started to move dirt today in preparation of pouring a foundation for the new $1.2 million University of Louisiana at Monroe BCM. An official groundbreaking is scheduled but no date has been released yet. The cost of project is $1.2 million but includes volunteer labor. The new BCM will be located at 1005 University Avenue and is scheduled for completion July 1, 2017. The new 10,000-square-foot BCM will feature expansive worship, office and meeting room space, lobby and student apartments. "We have already raised about 80-85 percent of the $1.2 million," said Chad McClurg, BCM campus director. "We were at a point that it would have cost just as much to renovate our old building what with the problems to our roof, heating and cooling system than to go ahead and build a new building. "This building will be functionable for at least the next 50 years and will allow us to impact students for a long, long time," McClurg continued. "We will be across the street from two dorms and two blocks away for a new international center. So, we are strategically placed to reach the campus. We are excited to get started. "As the university is growing, the sky is the limit for what we can accomplish because … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, NOBTS Communications NEW ORLEANS -- The suicide death of a beloved colleague after a sexual addiction came to light drove the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary community to their knees in prayer last August. They rose determined to help others caught in pornography and sexual addiction. "Recalibrate," a campus-wide conference with Greg Miller of Faithful & True, a ministry to those impacted by sexual addictions, came together as a response to the death of John Gibson, longtime professor at NOBTS' Leavell College on the opening day of classes on Aug. 24, 2015. Thomas Strong, Leavell College dean, encouraged the seminary community to attend the April 28 conference in an NOBTS weekly publication. "We have come to the realization through a most tragic event here on our campus that secret sin has a devastating impact," Strong wrote. "We want to start a conversation on breaking the power of secret sin" -- a conversation "seasoned with redemption and hope." Miller, speaking to a full audience in Leavell Chapel, said 50 percent of Christian men and 20 percent of Christian women self-report they are "addicted to porn." Self-reported statistics, he added, typically skew low. By age 18, "virtually all" … [Read more...]

By Staff, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Communications NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary experienced a small fire just before noon April 27, impacting the John T. Christian Library. The fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured during the event. The fire started in the motor of an exterior air condition chiller unit and never spread to the structure of the library building. Thanks to quick responses from the New Orleans Fire Department and the NOBTS facilities department, the fire was quickly contained and extinguished. Preliminary assessments indicate that the damage was confined to the chiller unit motor. Due to the nature of the fire, the air conditioning unit pushed smoke into the library and library occupants were evacuated without injury. After extinguishing the fire, the NOFD deployed fans in the building to help dissipate the smoke. The NOFD completed its work and left campus at approximately 1:45 p.m. At that time the NOBTS facilities department began its full assessment of the damage. The library stayed closed the rest of the day and reopened the next morning at 7:30 a.m. … [Read more...]

LAFAYETTE – The Bayou Church is giving away $170,000 to benefit nonprofits in Acadiana, others parts of Louisiana and Haiti. On May 1, members of the south Louisiana congregation collected the money as part of the Big Give, a campaign to go above and beyond the congregation’s tithes. Mike Walker, pastor of The Bayou Church, said with the downturn in the oil business in the region, now more than ever a need exists to assist people in the community. “Our mission as a church is to transform lives in Acadiana through Christ-centered relationships, and we can do that by practicing courageous generosity in order to support the needs of others,” Walker said. “We desire to make a lasting difference in the lives of those who are under resourced.” The Bayou Church plans to give away the money today and Wednesday to Bridge Ministries of Acadiana, Hearts of Hope in Lafayette, Love INC (In the Name of Christ) affiliate in Lafayette, Reciprocal Ministries International that will benefit the church’s sister church in Petit Toru, Haiti, and a natural disaster relief fund for Louisiana. Joel Lee, executive director of the Bridge Ministries of Acadiana, said the money given to her organization will make an investment into the lives of future … [Read more...]