By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – For the past 19 years, Jeff Cook has been the point man for compassion ministry in Louisiana Baptist life.
Cook, who retired Feb. 9 as the Louisiana Baptist compassion ministry strategist, said he was honored to help further the Gospel through ministries that met a physical need and opened up the door for conversations about a much greater need.
“It’s been a privilege to serve Louisiana Baptist churches and ministries and help them to do work of the ministry across the state,” Cook told the Baptist Message. “The relationships formed through the years are really meaningful and I’m sure many of those relationships will continue.
“Compassion ministry is defined as meeting every man’s needs so you can build trust and share the Gospel and connect people to the local church,” he continued. “Compassion ministry is a key part of evangelism in how it offers opportunities for the Gospel to be shared.”
CALLED
Cook’s journey began as a nine-year-old when he accepted Christ while attending a church in Houston, Texas. But his call to ministry did not occur until he was working as a sales representative at Xerox as a young adult.
During the next 30 years, Cook served the Lord in various capacities including, while as a student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, assistant to the youth minister with Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport (1969-1981) and pastor of Bayou Plaquemine Baptist Church (1989-1994), First Baptist Church, Broussard (1995-2001), Church Without Walls, New Orleans (2001-2005) and First Baptist Church, Jennings (2014-2021).
In February 2005, Cook accepted the call to become Louisiana Baptist church planting strategist and later, compassion ministry strategist. While there, Cook was instrumental in helping Louisiana Baptists further the Gospel through compassion ministries.
The 2020 Commission Report, formulated by 400 Louisiana Baptist pastors, lay leaders and denominational workers, emphasized compassion ministry as one of ten “Key Actions In Reaching Our State” – known as KAIROS.
KAIROS 4, engaging LBC congregations in compassion ministries, provides “remarkable opportunities to share the love of Christ and reach people for faith,” the commission report states.
Clothing programs, ministries to prisoners and their families, abortion-alternative services, tutoring classes, disaster relief, counseling, and feeding ministries are examples of ministries that “can open doors to overlooked people groups,” the commission said.
Cook said he is pleased 60 percent of Louisiana Baptist churches participate in a compassion ministry. He added that the goal is to have every church involved.
“I am happy to say that compassion ministry has become a normal part of many healthy growing churches in Louisiana,” he said.
WORDS OF GRATITUDE
Louisiana Baptist Missions and Ministry Team Director James Jenkins said Cook had a positive attitude that rubbed off on others.
“Jeff has always had the knack of being able to see the different facets of any issue, which is very helpful,” he said. “I called him Mr. Sunshine because his personality radiates, he is always upbeat and I never ran into him on any day, I can recall, when he was down.
“I was at a conference out of state last week and one of Jeff’s counterparts in another state convention confided in me that Jeff was considered to be the guru of compassion ministry. His counterparts across the country have benefited from his wisdom and his expertise in building compassion ministry programs.”
Jenkins said in the months following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in southeast Louisiana in August 2005, Cook was among those who were instrumental in helping churches, associations and the state Convention “build-back-up” ministry.
“Most of south Louisiana during that time was in disarray,” he said. “It took guys like Jeff who were able to go to south Louisiana and help our churches. Jeff and the other guys on the staff were willing to devote long hours in doing that and work hard in other ministry efforts in the years that followed to bring us to the point where could achieve (KAIROS 4) in the 2020 Commission. Jeff really lived in three worlds in the Convention – that of compassion ministry, church planting and what we would call non-traditional church planting, and he was able to deal with people across those three facets. That is how he served Louisiana Baptists for about 19 years. Jeff helped to build up compassion ministry and bring it to the point it is now.”
FUTURE FORWARD
Moving forward, Cook will enjoy time with his wife, Jo Lynn, two adult daughters, two adult sons and three grandchildren. He also will continue to serve as associate pastor with Highland Baptist Church, New Iberia, a role he assumed in July 2023.
“Thank you, Louisiana Baptists, for allowing me to serve you as an act of service to our Lord,” he said.
