Baptist church in New Orleans’ Zone 6 benefits from Alabamians’ prayer walking

For Pastor Matthew Tanner, the phrase “building up the church” has a literal and spiritual meaning.
Ever since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005, the pastor of Loving Four Baptist Tabernacle has been busy building up the church building and its membership.

The church is the only established Baptist presence in New Orleans’ Zone 6 — the Operation New Orleans Area Homes (NOAH) Rebuild zone that Alabama Baptists are partnering with for construction and evangelism projects.

Immediately after the hurricane, repairs began at Loving Four Baptist, replacing the roof and furnishings and doing some structural work.

“Our building is back but we want to have an impact on the community,” said Tanner, who has served as pastor for eight years. And he is looking forward to partnering with Alabama Baptists to strengthen that impact and bring people to know Christ.

Named after a gospel group, the 67-year-old church had 150 members before Katrina hit. That number was halved by the hurricane.

“[The church’s] basic need is to have a presence (in the community) and have a consistent presence,” Tanner said. “We have a lot of people coming back and looking for something different.”

That means doing things that will take the church to the people, he said, such as prayer walking in the neighborhood (see story, this page) and starting home-based Bible studies.

There are also a lot of children in the area, which opens up opportunities for backyard Bible clubs and other events, Tanner noted.

Alabama Baptists can help with all of these ideas and more, he said. “Whatever we can do to change the community and be a light in the community, I’m up for that,” Tanner said.

For more information on evangelism projects through the NOAH partnership, call Marcus Merritt or Otis Corbitt at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 368 and 332, respectively. (TAB)