Along about June every year, we Southern Baptists converge on a city to do our business for the year.  This year the chosen city was New Orleans, Louisiana.  Pastors, staff members, ministry leaders, seminarians, missionaries, and other random people related to Southern Baptist life show up to hear good preaching, inspirational worship, and do the business of the Southern Baptist Convention.  The national news makes us sound backward and culturally ignorant, but like they say, “don’t believe everything you hear on the nightly news”.

\

The Southern Baptist Convention is like a huge family reunion.  It’s a time to catch up with old friends from past churches, seminary, or the mission field.  There’s something about the ministry that creates special bonds with those you serve.  This year was especially fun for Cavin and me.  It was an opportunity for us to return to a city where we lived while Cavin attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  It was a city where we experienced life on campus with two young kids, and looking back on it all, I’ve come to realize that we were really just two young kids ourselves.  We didn’t have a lot of money; yet it was a time in our lives where we came face-to-face with the call of God and truly found Him to be faithful.

During our time living in New Orleans, we experienced the rich culture of a Southern city established in 1718 – long before our country was even a country.  It was once the territorial capital of French Louisiana before becoming part of the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.  So much of the French influence is still evident.  It shows up in the food, architecture, and rich traditions of the city.  This Southern city reflects an inspiring mixture of French and Southern culture along with other foreign influences resulting in its own unique character that is still celebrated today. 

We arrived in New Orleans with all our earthly possessions on a hot, balmy August day in 1998. Even though I had grown up in the Deep South, the heat of New Orleans was like nothing I had experienced before that day.  It was a heat that you could feel rising up from the street, consuming you to your inner core.

It didn’t take long to discover that the best way to endure the heat of New Orleans is to combat it with food.  In a city known for good food, we soon encountered the delicious taste of fried dough covered liberally with powdered sugar, and we couldn’t get enough!  These delicious creations are better known as “beignets” (pronounced ben-YAYS).  Since about the 16th century, beignets have been eaten during Mardi Gras by the French.  Eating beignets is an experience you don’t want to miss.  It’s not uncommon to get more powdered sugar on your face and clothes than in your mouth! 

There is no shortage of food options in New Orleans.  A few other staples of this city include red beans and rice, jambalaya, gumbo, bread pudding, shrimp po’ boys, king cakes, chickery coffee and creole seasonings. With so much to choose from, there’s bound to be something for everyone’s taste buds. 

This past week in New Orleans, we stayed at The Queen and Crescent Hotel, or The Q & C – as today’s modern hipsters call it.  It was named for the railroad route from the Queen City (Cincinnati) to the Crescent City (New Orleans) with stops along the way in Lexington, Kentucky; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Birmingham, Alabama.  This stately hotel lives up to its regal name.  It was erected in 1912 at a cost of $250,000, the equivalent of $7.8 million in today’s economy.  Located in the heart of New Orleans between the French Quarter and the Garden District, The Queen and Crescent has seen a lot of history in its lifetime and is still making memories.

Between the Southern Baptist meetings, we ate a lot!  Eating is something that Southern Baptists always agree on!  We had beignets every morning in the hotel restaurant, and they were almost as good as Café Du Monde. We had shrimp po’ boys at Landry’s Seafood, and the homemade remoulade sauce really made them great!  One night, we found some hot and spicy fried chicken at Gus’s Fried Chicken.  Even though Gus’s is a newcomer to New Orleans, this restaurant has been welcomed to town, and is quickly becoming a local favorite. 

New Orleans, you did not disappoint!  You gave us a “warm” – or should I say “hot” – welcome in 1998, just as you did this past week in 2023.  You allowed us to come in as outsiders and learn about your culture.  Some of it is harsh and difficult to embrace, but you don’t try to hide it.  You are who you are.  There are hurts within your borders, and I see that many are still here.  You taught us about loving others while we were learning about what it means to minister in the name of Christ. 

You fed us well while we were here as a young family.  You allowed us to learn to live on little, and still enjoy great food.  Your city was built on this.  Many have found their own refuge here while bringing their culture and native dishes and melding them together in this city.  “Food fusion” may be a trendy foodie term of the 2000s, but the idea is nothing new to you, NOLA! 

Thanks for allowing our Baptist Seminary to be founded here in 1917 with the hope of reaching out to a lost and dying world.  Thanks also for allowing our Southern Baptist Convention to meet here this year.  We aren’t perfect by any means, but we do strive individually and corporately to live out the inerrant word of God.  Sometimes we’re misunderstood by the world we live in.  That’s nothing new to you, New Orleans.  You have faced many storms in your life – some literal ones like Hurricane Katrina, and other figurative storms of controversy. 

Thanks for making us better, New Orleans.  It’s my prayer that we have made you better, too.

Sampling the South… one Southern city at a time!