Baptists create New Orleans partnership zones

NEW ORLEANS — A new evangelistic plan for the New Orleans metropolitan area has been launched as a partnership involving the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans, Louisiana Baptist Convention and North American Mission Board.

The plan divides the New Orleans metropolitan area into 27 zones, each with at least one Southern Baptist church in it.

Churches, associations and state/regional conventions across the Southern Baptist Convention will be asked to partner with each zone.

“What happens then is up to the churches and pastors in that zone and the entity — church/association/convention — that takes responsibility for it,” said Joe McKeever, Alabama native and director of missions for the Association of Greater New Orleans. “Whether the task is gutting out and rebuilding homes and churches, or doing ministry and evangelism in the neighborhoods, or a hundred other approaches, will be strictly up to the participating churches.”