Southern Baptist Convention President to Address 'Rebuilding'

The Reverend Fred Luter, Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will address rebuilding after disaster in “Back to Devastated Context—New Orleans after Katrina,” the next installment in the Dean’s Lecture Series, Wednesday, March 19 at 11:00 a.m. in room 252 of Candler’s Rita Anne Rollins Building.

Luter has served for 28 years as senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, which grew from 65 to 7,000 members under his leadership. In 2012 he became the first African American to be elected president of the 16-million-member Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

Luter’s lecture will draw from his firsthand experience with the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. On August 29, 2005, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church was destroyed by the hurricane, and its congregants then dispersed across the country. In his talk, Luter will share the story of the congregation’s three year rebuilding process and discuss biblical principles that provide guidance during times of disaster.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more on the event, click here: bit.ly/1kLZty1

About the Dean’s Lecture Series

The Dean’s Lecture Series at Candler highlights diverse and influential figures in history, culture, academics and ministry. Upcoming lectures:

April 2: Theologian Joel Green on the gospel of Luke

April 9: Church historian Hartmut Lehmann on Martin Luther  

April 16: Social ethicist Miguel A. De La Torre on Latin American Immigration