By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Organizers and participants of the 2024 Youth Evangelism Celebration praised God for the 501 students who made decisions for Christ, Nov. 24-25, at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria. They also were grateful to Him for the 5,325 teens and their adult sponsors who attended YEC (the largest annual gathering of Louisiana Baptists). “This event had so many moving parts, from the exceptional work of our Evangelism and Church Growth team, to every department of Louisiana Baptists, even to each individual church and adults who lead students,” Louisiana Baptist Youth Ministry Strategist Lee Myers told the Baptist Message. “It doesn’t happen without them, including my ministry assistant Julie Mitcham and the others on the planning team. “Hopefully it’s a start of a spiritual movement in our churches,” he continued. “The great thing is, it’s an example of what can happen when we all come together and when we pray for God to move in a mighty way.” SHINE YOUR LIGHT Zane Black, evangelist and tour pastor for Winter Jam 2024, told students God has a purpose for their lives. Basing his message on Ephesians 2, Black encouraged the students trust in … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Summer Grove Baptist Church will kick off the holiday season with a celebration of its 175th anniversary. Scheduled Nov. 24, the special day will begin with life groups at 9:15 am and a worship service and cupcakes at 10:30 a.m. Following the service, members and other guests will gather for a Thanksgiving meal. “For God to use us here in Northwest Louisiana for 175 years is just exciting,” Senior Pastor Heath Peloquin told the Baptist Message. “Our church is very loving and cares about reaching our community for Jesus. Serving Shreveport for Christ is part of our DNA. “The incredible men who have pastored Sumer Grove have been very faithful and that’s been an important part too of our church continuing for so long,” he continued. “God still uses this church and I rejoice in that. This is the greatest church who love Jesus, love each other and love our community. We are looking forward to celebrating that on November 24.” Reisa Johnson, who has been a member since she and her husband, Glenn, relocated to Shreveport from the Bahamas in 2017, said the church has become their family. “When we attended Summer Grove we felt the love and it was so … [Read more...]

By Baptist Message staff SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Messengers approved four resolutions during the 2024 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting: celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Cooperative Program; supporting volunteer chaplains in schools; awareness on human trafficking; and expression of appreciation of those who helped make the Annual Meeting possible (read these in full in the Oct. 31 edition of the Baptist Message, print and online). However, the Committee on Resolutions reported it had declined to recommend a resolution it had received, “The Abolition of Self-Managed Abortion in Louisiana,” from Brian Gunter, a messenger and pastor with First Baptist Church, Livingston. DEBATE During a time of discussion about the resolutions report, Gunter asked messengers to vote to pull his proposed resolution out of committee, leading to a floor debate. Gunter shared that this is the third year he had come before the messengers, asking them to adopt a statement on the matter. “I’m going to bring this matter to your attention year after year, because some in our state convention of churches have repeatedly opposed our efforts to unify our churches in calling for the abolition of all abortion in our state,” … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – David Goza charged pastors to be unified and preach the grace of God in a godless culture in his presidential address during the 2024 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Nov. 12, hosted by Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport. “We are the light of Christ for this world,” he said. “We have to be united; we have to be thinking alike; and we have to be going in the same direction. “Obviously, we’re going to have some times of disagreement. But we have to be able to come together for the sake of the lost,” he continued. “Our mission is the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to the Church, and we’re a Convention of Bible believing churches.” Drawing from Titus 2:11-14, Goza said God’s grace teaches churches to deny self, live a godly life and look for the return of Jesus. “These are dark days. We are the Church of this age. God has saw to it that we are the keepers of His Word for this generation, and I believe, for one, that we are the end time Church. It falls on us in this dark hour to preach the Gospel.” BIBLE STUDY Hance Dilbeck, president and CEO with GuideStone Financial Resources of the SBC, reminded messengers that a Kingdom … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn, during the 2024 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Nov. 12, hosted by Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport, urged messengers to connect, cooperate, follow the Great Commission and commit for the Kingdom. CONNECTION “We are a connected force for good,” Horn said. “But if we cease to be connected, we will lose or at least diminish our ability to be a force for good. Just as we are a force for good at the national level, I believe we are a force for good in Louisiana.” Horn said the Baptist Message, Louisiana Baptist Foundation, Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries, Louisiana Christian University and Executive Board all play a part in that connection. Importantly, he shared how the Executive Board has responded to the church insurance crisis that is pressing on congregations across the state, approving a motion, Sept. 24, that would loan $250,000 from the Disaster Relief Restricted Fund to help cover initial costs of a newly formed church self-insured organization. The money would be used for the establishment and administration of the self-insurance trust, also known as … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer SHREVEPORT, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Baptists enjoyed fellowship and worship during the 2024 LBC Annual meeting, Nov. 12, hosted by Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport. BUDGET APPROVED Messengers approved the 2025 financial plan based on Cooperative Program contributions of $17,380,808, a decrease of $699,761, or 3.87 percent. Cooperative Program projections are based on actual receipts from August 2023 through July 2024. The allocation formula for distributing CP gifts between Southern Baptist entities and Louisiana Baptist causes remains unchanged, 62.87 percent to support ministries in the state and 37.13 percent forwarded to fund national entities. MOTIONS Messengers considered four motions, unanimously approving one that established a day of prayer for Louisiana Christian University on the first Sunday in February (submitted by Terry Young, pastor, Airline Baptist Church, Bossier City). Young submitted two other motions regarding LCU. He withdrew one motion that asked Louisiana Baptists to use prayer, more funding, and student recruiting to reaffirm their dedication to and partnership with the school. His third motion, asking for a special annual offering for … [Read more...]