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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Three Views: Churches and CARES Act loans

VIEWPOINT: Before your church borrows from Caesar By Joe Garner III, Administrative Pastor, Christ Church   VIEWPOINT: Three considerations for churches taking advantage of the CARES Act loans By Don Pucik, DOM, Northshore Baptist Association   VIEWPOINT: God ordained that governments should aid their citizens (even people of faith) By Will Hall, Director, LBC Office of Public Policy … [Read more...]

Louisiana Baptists urged to pray for Louisiana’s evangelists

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM)--Louisiana Baptists are urged to pray for evangelists, whose collective ministries are among the most negatively impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 crisis. “Pray for our evangelists,” Keith Manuel posted on his Facebook page. He is the director of the Louisiana Baptist evangelism and church growth team. “So many people will not be aware of the potential economic hardship they are facing. Most, if not all of them, are having months of meetings cancelled. If you are a partner with them, maybe the Lord will put it on your heart to help financially or in another way,” Manuel explained. “Most of our evangelists are living on a very small income. Pray for their needs to be met as you pray for so many others who will lose their incomes during this crisis.” Louisiana Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists President Gary Bowlin said the cancellation of revivals due to COVID-19 come at what is traditionally the busiest time of the year for evangelists. “The biggest thing is that we are not able to share the Gospel and see people saved,” Bowlin, founder of Gary Bowlin Evangelistic Association in Summit, Miss., told the Baptist Message. “Cancellations have … [Read more...]

CARES Act loans available for churches, evangelists

By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor WASHINGTON, D.C. (LBM)—Congress has approved a $2.2 trillion coronavirus impact aid bill that provides economic relief to workers and businesses; and, because of the work of many concerned lawmakers, these provisions extend also to 501(c)(3) entities, which include churches, Christian schools and other religious bodies. Importantly, evangelists are eligible for the payroll protection loans provided in the legislation, too. Basically, churches and other Christian ministries may receive a loan equal to 2.5 times the 12-month average of all salary costs. Essentially, this means each nonprofit will receive a loan equal to 2.5 months of payroll costs. Up to 100 percent of these loans may be forgiven, based on employee retention. There are two timeframes (either Jan. 1, 2020, through Feb. 29, 2020; or, Feb. 15, 2019, through June 30, 2019) for calculating the baseline monthly average of employees and this figure will be compared to the average number of employees still employed during the month of June 2020. The percentage of retention will amount to the percentage of the loan that will be forgiven. The U.S. Treasury has issued guidance that can be found using the URL, … [Read more...]

Evangelists set to livestream Easter message

By Message Staff ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists has planned a special online outreach event Easter weekend. The one-hour program will be livestreamed on Facebook, April 9 at 7 p.m., and will be available on-demand throughout the weekend. The special broadcast will feature music and a message by COSBE President Sammy Tippit, who will co-host the meeting with Richard Hamlet, president and CEO of Global Ministries Foundation in Memphis, Tenn. The event, “Covered by the Cross,” will feature the powerful stories of men and women who found a place of hope at the cross. Luke Hockenjos of Haughton, and Keith Fordham and Kim Stanely, both of Fayetteville, Ga., are among those who will share their testimonies. Musicians Joe and Kim Stanley, Russell and Kristi Johnson, all of Conway, S.C., and Amy Stockwell, of Katy, Texas, will lead a time of worship by song. Tippit will conclude the evening with an invitation to follow Christ. COSBE has asked for churches, associations and state conventions to partner and participate in the effort by sharing the video on their websites or Facebook pages, or by requesting a link for the organization’s Vimeo channel that also will livestream the … [Read more...]

CARES Act loan forms are now available

CARES Act loan forms are now available By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor WASHINGTON (LBM)--The U.S. Department of the Treasury has released the form that must be completed when applying for a CARES Act Payroll Protection Loan through an approved Small Business Administration lender. Churches and evangelists, as well as Christian schools and other ministry nonprofits, may access the application form using this link: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Paycheck-Protection-Program-Application-3-30-2020-v3.pdf Otherwise, please visit this URL for the U.S. Treasury and click on the fourth link  presented on the landing page to access the loan application: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/top-priorities/cares-act/assistance-for-small-businesses LOAN ESSENTIALS Basically, churches and other Christian ministries may receive a loan equal to 2.5 times the 12-month average of all salary costs. Essentially, this means each nonprofit will receive a loan equal to 2.5 months of payroll costs. If the church maintains the same average number of employees through June 30, 2020, who were employed for either one of two periods (January 1, 2020, through February 29, 2020; or, February 15, 2019, through … [Read more...]

Churches urged to apply quickly for loans provided in $2T coronavirus relief bill

By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor NOTE: The original paragraphs 11 and 12 have been replaced with a single paragraph to correct information about loan forgiveness. WASHINGTON (LBM)—The U.S. House has approved a $2 trillion coronavirus impact aid bill that provides economic relief to workers and businesses; and, because of the work of many concerned lawmakers, these provisions extend also to 501(c)(3) entities, which include churches, Christian schools and other religious bodies. Importantly, evangelists are eligible for the payroll protection loans provided in the legislation. WHAT THE LAW MEANS In a summary of the Coronavirus Aid Relief Economic Security (also known as C.A.R.E.S.), U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), a member of the First Baptist Church in Bossier City, said the Small Business Assistance portion of the legislation, passed by voice vote in the House, March 27, after it was approved 96-0 by the Senate, March 25, includes nonprofits with payrolls not exceeding 500 employees per location and caps any single loan at $10 million. “This will be an important lifeline for so many of our churches and ministries here in Louisiana and nationwide, and we are grateful for it,” said Johnson. “This is a time … [Read more...]

Governor Edwards calls for day of prayer and fasting on Tuesdays

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Governor John Bel Edwards, state legislators, other government leaders and pastors have asked Louisianans to devote the noontime hour over the next four Tuesdays to focused prayer and fasting for God’s intervention in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation. “Lunch Fasting Before God on Tuesdays” will begin Tuesday, March 31, and end Tuesday, April 21. “I want to encourage all Louisiana Baptists to join the Governor and many of our legislators in fasting on Tuesdays at lunch,” Louisiana Baptists Executive Director Steve Horn told the Baptist Message. “In fact, what I really want to say is ‘Unless you are medically restricted from fasting, I cannot see why you would not want to participate.’ “We are beginning to see this virus invade the lives of those we know and we are certainly starting to feel the effects of the economic implications of this pandemic,” he continued. “Let us pray with desperation and expectation. Most of all, let us pray that a long-awaited spiritual awakening is the result.” Edwards, who is a devoted Catholic, previously called on others to join him during a Louisiana Public Broadcasting town hall meeting March … [Read more...]

Louisiana argues for state’s abortion law before Supreme Court

By Will Hall, Message Executive Editor WASHINGTON (LBM)—On March 4, Elizabeth Murrill, Louisiana’s solicitor general, argued the state’s position before the U.S. Supreme Court that the medical safety regulations outlined in Act 620, passed in 2014, protect a woman’s health and are not an undue burden or restriction. At issue, in particular, is the law’s requirement that an abortionist obtain hospital admitting privileges to a facility within 30 miles of the abortion facility, in case of complications for the woman patient during or after an abortion. This element of the case, known as June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, was amplified while the legal challenge to the law made its way through the federal court process. In 2019 a woman who endured a botched abortion procedure at a Baton Rouge abortion facility experienced complications that forced her to have emergency surgery which resulted in a total hysterectomy, meaning the killed baby was the last child she could have birthed. Despite this development, Julie Rikelman, attorney for the Shreveport abortion facility, Hope Medical Group for Women, owned by June Medical Services LLC, dismissed the concern about complications, arguing that such missteps are an exception in … [Read more...]