Four years after Hurricane Ida severely damaged its building on Barton Avenue, the Bible Center Church in Luling will hold a Welcome Back service Sunday, Oct. 12 at 10:45 a.m.
Dr. John Brannen, a longtime member of the church, said everyone who helped the church rebuild, all former and current members of the church, and anyone with an interest in joining the church are invited to the celebration.
The church spent most of the last three years meeting at Valero Community College in Boutte while its building on Barton Avenue underwent major reconstruction, including roof replacement and building code upgrades.
“The people of BCC, which is what the real ‘church’ consists of – not the buildings, per se – are so excited to be back home in their own church campus facilities,” Dr. Brannen said. “We are looking forward to thanking everyone involved in getting the church back home and rejoicing with us in this ‘come-back’ story.”
The church holds a special meaning for Dr. Brannen, who joined in 1971 when the group would meet at Mimosa Park Elementary School. He met his wife at BCC and all four of his children were baptized there.
“You could say that it is a big deal and a great blessing for me to return to my home, my church home,” he said.
Dr. Brannen said that BCC consists of people from many church backgrounds, including Bible Church, Baptist and Catholic faiths, among others.
“BCC’s focus is on teaching the Bible from cover to cover – as the name Bible Center Church indicates,” Dr. Brannen said. “At the same time, the people of BCC want to be encouraging to all who attend, to worship God and to lift each other up through good times and bad.”
BCC welcomed a new pastor in May after former Pastor Gary McCall retired after 30 years of service. Pastor Dale Gooding of South Carolina and his wife, Wendy, joined the church in May.
“Pastor Dale is a great teacher and leader and is passionate about the vision and opportunity for BCC to serve the spiritual needs of the East and West banks of St Charles Parish,” Dr. Brannen said.
In his first sermon at the church on June 8, Pastor Gooding said he discussed the Bible’s teachings on the importance of the local church.
“Churches are an intimate part of a Christian’s life, even the facility,” Gooding said. “I mean, the people are the church, but the building gathers those people. And so, after a while, you have a sense of community and belonging. It’s like going home.”
Gooding, a veteran who has a master’s degree in ministry from Bob Jones University, spent 17 years pastoring in South Carolina and four years pastoring in Michigan. He and his wife also served short term missions in Panama, St. Lucia and Ghana, and West Africa.
The church’s worship services at 10:45 a.m. on Sundays start with song and prayer, followed by a sermon. The services close with a song and prayer.
“First century Christian churches did exactly that,” Gooding said. “There wasn’t a lot of pomp and circumstance and exaltation of men and things like that. It was basically getting together and praying and preaching. So, we follow that model.”
Gooding said his philosophy of ministry rests on exaltation, edification, education and evangelism.
“The church comes together as a group of people who are, to put it in simple terms, saved sinners, and we worship God first and foremost,” Gooding said.
Edification is about encouraging one another and building on another up. Education is learning and teaching the Bible in a responsible way, and evangelism is about sharing the gospel with the world, Gooding said.
“The church is a gathering place for believing people within the community, but then secondarily, it becomes a beacon of light for people outside the church,” Gooding said.
He said he wanted the community to know that Bible Center Church will offer a responsible understanding of the Bible
“We’re going to teach it to them, so we want to share the gospel with people,” Gooding said. “And then we want to disciple people. So that’s our two primary focal points: evangelism and discipleship.”
