Baptist Message Staff

FOLSOM, La. – David Mercer, youth pastor with First Baptist Church of Folsom, La., has been arrested on charges of sexual abuse of multiple children that allegedly took place in the 1990s.

ASHLAND, La. (LBM) – A deacon and treasurer from Ashland Baptist Church have been arrested for alleged theft of more than $156,000 from the church.

BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Baptist leaders are thankful for God’s protection over the Louisiana State University Baptist Collegiate Ministry building, which was vacant at the time of an Oct. 11 shooting nearby.

DERIDDER, La. – Authorities have identified a suspect in an attempted arson at First Baptist DeRidder.

SHREVEPORT, La. – Louisiana Baptists’ 2024 Committee on Resolutions reported at the convention’s 2024 annual meeting that 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.

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP) — Associate Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Louisiana Baptist Convention Dale Lingenfelter announced today that he plans to nominate Don Currence for the office of Southern Baptist Convention registration secretary.

ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – The worship center at Atlanta (La.) Baptist Church and the White House Lodge of Dry Creek Baptist Camp in Dry Creek, La., were destroyed after fires engulfed the two facilities Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 17).

CALCASIEU PARISH, La. (BP) — Louisiana Baptist churches damaged by Hurricane Laura may not have been able to gather in their worship centers on Sunday, but the powerful storm did not prevent them from meeting in other ways.

PINEVILLE, La. (BP) -- "America's Got Talent" contestant Robert Finley paid a visit to the Zion Hill Church Family on Sunday, (Aug. 4) to share a simple, yet profound musical message of hope. "Hold onto God's unchanging hand," Finley said in between songs at the church in Pineville, La. "Keep your faith. Good things come to those who wait, if you wait upon the Lord."

WOODWORTH, La. (BP) -- The Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Board voted unanimously to elect Steve Horn as the 19th executive director of the organization during the entity's spring meeting at the Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center in Woodworth May 7. He was nominated by a search committee composed of board members and led by Waylon Bailey, president of the Executive Board and the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Covington. Horn will succeed David Hankins, who retires as executive director June 30.