Former SBC President Luter to Lead Chapel

November 11, 2014

Dr. Fred Luter Jr., senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, will bring the OBU chapel message Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 10 a.m. The event will take place in Raley Chapel's Potter Auditorium.

Luter will continue the OBU chapel theme of "Parables of the Kingdom: Jesus' Word Picture as Found in the Gospel of Luke." In addition to being senior pastor of Franklin Avenue, he is the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was unanimously elected in June 2012 and came into office as the first African-American president of the SBC.

Luter began his ministerial journey in 1977, after a serious motorcycle accident prompted him to surrender his life to Christ. Every Saturday after the accident, he preached the gospel on the street corner of Galvez and Caffin Avenue in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans.

In 1983, he preached his first sermon at the Law Street Baptist Church in New Orleans, and three years later, he became the pastor of Franklin Avenue. During his time there, he has devoted himself to encourage the people by preaching, teaching and living the Word of God. He felt a special call to minister to entire families, and began seeking unique ways to draw fathers to his church.

By 1989, Franklin Avenue had grown from 65 to over 300 members. In 1994, Franklin Avenue moved their growing membership into an 1,800 seat sanctuary. By 2005, prior to Hurricane Katrina, the church grew to over 7,000 members.

Luter and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for 32 years. They are the proud parents of one daughter, Kimberly Luter; one son, Fred "Chip" Luter, III; and a daughter-in-law Jasmine Luter; and are grandparents of one grandson, Fred Luter, IV.