Louisiana

Close to a hundred pastors rallied in Louisiana over the weekend at an event organized by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in support of presidential candidate Rick Santorum ahead of the state's GOP primary on March 24.

The church leaders were invited by Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), at his local Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, where more than 1,400 total attendees listened to the evangelical leader praise Santorum for his conservative values and strong religious position, The Associated Press reported.

The former Pennsylvania senator himself spoke at the event, although it is not the first time Santorum has met with hundreds of pastors across America's churches to build up evangelical support. more >>

The Rev. Fred Luter II of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, La., is set to become the first ever African-American president of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention, as he is so far the only candidate for the election in June.

The Southern Baptist Convention, which has long dealt with issues of race since splitting in 1845 with Northern Baptists over the right to hold slaves, has grown to accept a diverse array of cultures within its congregation. Once an all-white membership, nearly 20 percent of its current congregation nationwide now is composed of minorities. Until now, however, it has never had an African-American president – Luter himself was the first ever African-American first vice-president of the denomination, appointed in June 2011.

Luter has had a long and turbulent road to rise in the ranks, The Tennessean reported, revealing that when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, his church was destroyed and lost its entire 7,000-member congregation, most of whom fled the city. Three years later, however, the Franklin Avenue Baptist church reopened its doors after help from the entire neighborhood, and now draws 5,000 people for church services. The report goes into detail about Luter's background and upbringing, sharing how a near-fatal motorcycle accident when he was 21 guided him in the right direction toward God. more >>

Recent reports that a church in Louisiana was ordered to stop passing out free water bottles and cups of coffee during a Mardi Gras parade have been unnecessarily sensationalized, a pastor revealed.

The situation at hand arose when Jefferson Parish officials approached volunteers from Hope Church in Metairie, La., telling them that they could not pass out free beverages along the parade route without the proper permits to do so.

According to Fox News, Hope Church did not know they had to secure an occupational license and register for a sales tax before passing out their water bottles labeled with the church's name and website address. more >>

A church in New Orleans is raising awareness about violence in their community by posting a "Murder Board" outside of their building.

The 4 x 8 foot white sign is anchored to the wall of St. Anna's Episcopal Church and has a list of names in black lettering that read something like this: Jan. 6, Keian Ester, 11, shot; Jan. 7, Michael Johnson, 21, shot; Jan. 7, Eric Robinson, 41, shot/burned.

The Rev. Bill Terry, rector of St. Anna's, said that even just a few weeks into the year they have already added at least 20 names to the board. more >>

A 28-year-old Louisiana woman is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy she met at a Bible summer camp.

Heather Daughdrill worked as a teacher's aide at the unnamed camp where she met the underage boy in June, and pursued an affair with the youth until October, alleges the sheriff’s office of Calcasieu Parish, La. The parish (comparable to county) received a complaint about Daughdrill on Nov. 10, and police arrested her on Nov. 28, after an investigation by Parish Detective Katherine LeBlanc.

Daughdrill is now facing a laundry-list of charges, including for allegedly picking the boy up from school in nearby Beauregard Parish without his parents' knowledge and engaging in inappropriate conduct with him in Beauregard and Calcasieu parishes. She is also accused of trading explicit text messages with the teen, according to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office. more >>

The United States Supreme Court recently refused to hear a case involving a same-sex couple who unsuccessfully sought to put both of their names on their adopted son’s birth certificate – a big victory for conservative pro-family organizations.

The rejection by the high court kept in place a previous federal court of appeals ruling that denied the gay couple’s request to change the biological parents’ names on their adopted son’s birth certificate with their own.

Following Louisiana state law, which allowed only married couples to jointly adopt a child, a state registrar refused the two unwed men, Mickey Smith and Oren Adar, their request in 2006. more >>