Most college football kickers judge themselves on their consistency on the field, where statistics are used to tell the story. LSU kickoff specialist James Hairston measures consistency and balance in his life — on and off the field — in a different way. “The only consistent thing in my … Continue reading →

When the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was looking for a slogan a few years back, they settled on “A New Way to be Baptist.” On Feb. 21, the CBF found another way to be a different Baptist when it hired Suzii Paynter, of Austin, Texas, as its third executive coordinator. While … Continue reading →

A dozen Tibetan monks visiting Baton Rouge will spend parts of five days next week creating an intricate artwork made of colored sand, only to destroy it. Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery who are traveling with the Dalai Lama during his trip to New Orleans will separate from the Tibetan Buddhist leader to spend five … Continue reading →

“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. … When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” — Acts 2: 4, 6 For this Pentecost Sunday, Together … Continue reading →

The Transformed by Grace program seeks to help those who have fallen victim to drug addiction and other destructive behaviors. “We don’t win them all by any means ... but we keep trying,” leader Billy King said of the faith-based support group which meets at 6:30 p.m. each Monday at Grace Works Church, 16131 La. 44, Prairieville. Continue reading →

Dreams drew Megan Boudreaux to Haiti. After a pair of weeklong trips to the impoverished Caribbean nation, Boudreaux returned to her comfortable life and job in Baton Rouge, but for months, she woke regularly, haunted by images. “I was having dreams, and there was this one tree on the mountain that I kept seeing,” … Continue reading →

John Gaughan first came to Baton Rouge in 1973, an alcoholic singing rock and roll with Herman’s Hermits. During a re-
cent return … Continue reading →

When the Dalai Lama speaks at several events in New Orleans on May 16-18, many in the area will know the name, but not necessarily who the man is. A simple description is that the Dalai Lama is the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet. He is also the former head of state … Continue reading →

More than 100 singers from 20-plus Baton Rouge area church choirs will raise their voices together in “Waging Peace,” a cantata to be premiered Sunday afternoon at Broadmoor Baptist Church. The composition, a five movement, 40-minute work, blends the words of area residents describing how violence has affected their lives, both personally and communally, into music … Continue reading →

Among the lessons of the Protestant Reformation is one about technology. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church, but it was the printing press that took them and the Scriptures to a larger audience. Christians seeking to present the “never-changing” Gospel in an “ever-changing” world should learn from that example, Lloyd … Continue reading →

When the Rev. Bill Brewer, 65, ministers to patients and families as a hospice chaplain, he can speak from personal experience. His first wife of 32 years spent five months in hospice before her death 10 years ago, and Brewer was inspired by the chaplain who often came to visit. Continue reading →

“Resilience: Strength through Compassion and Connection” is the message the 14th Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, will carry with him next month as he visits New Orleans for the first time. Event organizers are hoping that message will have a lasting impact on the area. “When the Dalai Lama visits an area, … Continue reading →

The Rev. Lance Brown writes, produces and directs theatrical plays that he hopes will minister to audiences’ souls while generating funding for various church ministries. Through the Public Awareness Theatre ministry he founded in 1984, he has developed six plays that his team of traveling actors has presented in 39 states, he said. The ministry functions out … Continue reading →

In the April 13 Facets of Faith, I presented two views of how Christians in financial trouble should handle paying their tithes. One expert said to get out of debt first so that you can be more generous later. The other said that the tithe should always come first. I asked what our readers thought. … Continue reading →

Stephanie Jones Book Signing: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Bethany World Prayer Center, North Campus, 13855 Plank Road. Jones, of Marrero, is the author of the children’s book “The Puddin’ Spot.” Garage Sale and Concessions: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., White Dove Fellowship Church, 10957 … Continue reading →

On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church, beginning the Protestant Reformation and effectively changing the religious world forever. With the 500th anniversary of the Reformation just a few years away, a conference looking back at the difference it has made will kickoff with a dinner Thursday … Continue reading →

The owners of the Bible & Book Center, 4242 Government St. in Baton Rouge, have sold their building and will be closing the store. Its final day of operation will be May 4. “We’ve had the building for sale for about three years,” co-owner … Continue reading →

In “The Life of Jesus Christ,” a play starring Louisiana inmates, convicted murder Sandra Starr portrays the woman caught in adultery — a sinner publicly humiliated and threatened with execution, until Jesus tells her accusers, “Let him who has no sin cast the first stone.” In “Cast the First Stone,” a new … Continue reading →

Humming a hymn is just as satisfying as singing for tenor Earl Taylor. "There's something about moaning," said Taylor, a retired Southern University professor and former longtime member of the musical staff at Mount Zion Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. "There's something about humming. "There's something about what it makes you feel like when you allow your soul, … Continue reading →

What to do with those leftover grocery bags? Return them (if you remember) for recycling? Throw them away? Find a way to use them again? Women at the Village Woods Retirement Community in Baton Rouge chose the third option as a way to help the homeless. For all but the first Saturday each month, when the … Continue reading →

Community Church Building Dedication and Dinner on the Grounds: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., First Baptist Church of Addis, 6781 La. 1 South. The church will provide the food. Revelation Rodeo with Glory Riders: 11 a.m., Miracle Place Church, 2080 Main St. … Continue reading →

With its spring Stained Glass Art in Sacred Places tour, the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans is offering a look at “Ladies of Grace.” Windows on the April 21 tour will feature Mary, the Blessed Mother; fourth century Christian martyr St. Agnes; and 20th century religious sister St. Katharine Drexel, patroness of racial justice. Focusing … Continue reading →

A recent news release from GoBankingRates.com considers the question of how Christians should handle their tithe when in financial difficulty. One view says to get your debt out of the way. Paul Sisolak, a contributor to GoBankingRates said, “In the event of true financial … Continue reading →

Episcopal High senior Nicholas Leo says he once believed that religious strife and disharmony consumed the area's differing faith communities, but making a self-directed documentary helped him rethink his assumptions. Leo spent nearly two years filming and interviewing area spiritual leaders, including a Jewish rabbi, Catholic priest, Buddhist monk and an inner-city Baptist preacher to make a 34-minute documentary, "Spirit and … Continue reading →

Untrained artist Larry Farris credits a word from God with ushering him into an art ministry. Actually, it was three words - "teach, preach and paint" - behind an impressive 12-painting project Farris said God gave him to help share the Gospel. "The Lord put it on my heart to paint some paintings," Farris said. "It all started with those … Continue reading →

The first time Checo W. Yancy entered the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, he was a shackled and handcuffed young man facing a life sentence in 1984 for felony crimes he committed in New Orleans. But with his sentence eventually commuted, Yancy, 67, re-enters the prison as a free man ministering to the … Continue reading →

Visitors to the British Museum move through rooms filled with historical objects. With so many objects, many are passed with no one realizing their importance. When I visited the museum, the Cyrus Cylinder was one such object. Even though it’s housed in the center of a room, people passed … Continue reading →

VATICAN CITY – For most Catholics, visiting the Vatican is a dream: a chance to experience the heart of Catholicism, the Pope, St. Peter’s Square, the history. But being there during a papal election and installation is like nothing else. “Being in the middle of (a papal election) is kind of being at the … Continue reading →

“The Life of Jesus Christ”: 9 a.m., Louisiana State Penitentiary, La. 66. A cast of inmates from the Louisiana State Penitentiary and Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women will present the story of Jesus at the prison’s multi-purpose arena. The production includes live gospel music and concessions. $10. Continue reading →

At noon on Good Friday, parishioners of St. James Episcopal Church will symbolically follow Christ’s final journey before his death as they meditate and pray at Stations of the Cross recently acquired by the church. During Lent and especially on Good Friday, Roman Catholic and many Protestant churches commemorate Christ’s journey to the Crucifixion at Stations, … Continue reading →

When Brett Medlin set off with a mission group to Cambodia five years ago, he did not expect to create an international organization. After doing mission work for three years, the Baton Rouge native found out about a small village of impoverished people with no housing, running water or electricity. “We decided we wanted to … Continue reading →

The lesson of Passover goes beyond commemorating the liberation of the Jews. Louisiana rabbis also see a challenge to strive for the freedom of all people. “The Passover is a holiday that reminds us of what it was like to be slaves and to live in conditions of indignity, and we move from that condition of indignity … Continue reading →

One more lens in the sea of television cameras focused on the Sistine Chapel’s chimney last week wouldn’t have mattered. Then again, maybe it would have. Because the pope was on the minds of visitors to the New Orleans Museum of Art in more ways than one. “I said we needed a live feed from … Continue reading →

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis comes into office riding a wave of good will but facing a host of challenges both inside and outside the Catholic Church. Whether he can tackle them, however, may depend on his ability to tame the Roman Curia, the dysfunctional papal bureaucracy that was uppermost in the minds of … Continue reading →

St. Joseph Cathedral will present a Holy Week multimedia devotional event based on the words Jesus said from the cross. The “Seven Chorals-Poèmes for Organ on the Seven Last Words of Christ” by Charles Tournemire (1870-1939) will be performed at the downtown Baton Rouge church at 7:30 p.m. March 26. Continue reading →

CROP Hunger Walk: 10:30 a.m., Abita Springs Trailhead, Holly Street and Main Street. Christ Episcopal Church Slidell will join other North Shore churches in a 5K walkathon to benefit North Shore food banks and worldwide hunger relief efforts. Registration will start at 10 a.m. Continue reading →

The Rev. Fred Jeff Smith takes seriously the legacy he continues by becoming the third Smith to lead Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. “Some people might say that’s three too many,” Smith joked with a booming laugh. His grandfather, the late Rev. Dudley T. Smith, served two decades as … Continue reading →

As a funeral home director, David Singletary, of St. Amant, has plenty of professional experience with death. But a decade ago that experience nearly became too personal. Singletary was suffering from sarcoidosis, a potentially fatal inflammatory disease that mostly affected his lungs. “There were a couple of times I almost died,” he said. “I said, … Continue reading →

The St. James Center for Spiritual Formation will offer a weekend workshop on Celtic Spirituality and the Christian Tradition, led by theologian and pilgrimage leader Marcus Losack on April 12-13 in the church’s Ministries Center, 208 N. Fourth St. Losack, of Ireland, is the author of two … Continue reading →

Evangelist Billy Graham has rubbed elbows with celebrities ranging from presidents to journalists to musicians. In “Billy Graham & Me,” a new book in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” franchise released in February, 101 people who have met Graham on the public stage share their private memories of the 94-year-old preacher. Here are excerpts: … Continue reading →

ATLANTA — Christian recording artist TobyMac’s blend of rap, hip-hop, rock and soul raced up the charts last year and shattered many stereotypes along the way. “Toby blows everybody’s perception of what Christian or gospel music is because Toby makes Jesus look cool,” Billboard Magazine’s Deborah Evans Price told the PBS program “Religion & Ethics … Continue reading →

Louisiana Skeeter Run: 7:30 a.m., First United Methodist Church, 930 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, to benefit Imagine No Malaria, an United Methodist initiative of the church dedicated to eradicating malaria worldwide. The event consists of 10K, 5K and one-mile walk/runs. $25 for adult runners. $15 for runners younger than … Continue reading →

When Nancy Zito came to Baton Rouge in 2005, she wanted to teach. But she found herself drawn to a neighborhood with no school of its own. Zito and her husband, Dan, had moved from New York City. Her local travels frequently included Gardere Lane. “I just felt the tug, that this is where I’m going … Continue reading →

New Orleans — Prostitution. Polygamy. Premarital sex. And that’s just the Old Testament. The Bible is filled with mixed messages about human sexuality, says Jennifer Wright Knust, a professor of religion at the Boston University School of Theology, and that makes it a less-than-useful rule book for sex. “The Bible fails to … Continue reading →

The History Channel will debut on Sunday a 10-hour, five-part miniseries called “The Bible.” The show starts at 7 p.m. and will run on Sundays for five weeks, ending on Easter. Each episode will have two or three stories from Scripture. Created and produced by husband and wife Mark Burnett … Continue reading →