Franklin Avenue Baptist Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Fred Luter Jr. (Senior); Fred 'Chip' Luter III voted successor

Founded 1940

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

Service Times Sunday 10:30 AM (verify)

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry No

Website www.franklinabc.com/

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

Not stated on pastor page — verify in 'What We Believe'.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Not stated on available page — verify.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not stated on available page — verify.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Not stated on available page — verify.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

SBC/BF&M 2000 implies complementarian; Women's Ministry listed; women in pastoral leadership not addressed — verify.

SBC complementarian per BF&M 2000 (CBMW halfway position; MOOP holds patriarchal headship as the biblical standard); verify local practice (verify whether headship convictions are robust or drifting toward functional egalitarianism)

Caution

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Fred Luter Jr. remains Senior Pastor per website. Chip Luter III (son) is mentioned and has been voted in as designated successor per NOLA.com; transition in progress.

Caution

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Not described on available page.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

'Exalt the Savior, Equip the Saints, Evangelize the Sinners' — clear gospel focus.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Historic Black SBC congregation; no DEI/CRT framing observed on homepage. | GREEN signal: *** INITIAL SIGNER (one of the founding 153) *** Pastor Fred Luter is a public signatory of "The Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality" (CBMW, 2017-08-25, cbmw.org/nashville-statement). The Nashville Statement is the post-2017 evangelical line on biblical anthropology, marriage, and sexual ethics — affirming creation order, one-man-one-woman marriage, and biblical sexuality. Signing places the pastor on the orthodox / non-affirming side of the 2017 evangelical fault line.

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

SBC confirmed — Luter Jr. was SBC President 2012–2013 (first African American president). Wikipedia and site both confirm SBC.

Strong

Assessment

SBC church in New Orleans, Louisiana. Added to directory for evaluation. Southern Baptist Convention affiliation provides denominational accountability through the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

#sbc#new-orleans#louisiana#nobts-connected#seminary#nashville-statement-signer#nashville-statement-initial-signer#reviewed-2026-04-27

Pastor Signatures & Affiliations [Orthodox-aligned signatures]

Public statement signatures and organizational affiliations of this church's named pastors. "People is policy" — these are evidence-weighted signals about doctrinal trajectory, not the sole determinant of any rating.

Nashville Statement

Fred Luter Jr., Fred Luter

Source: cbmw.org — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Upgrade overall to green on denominational — SBC flagship historic Black congregation, founding 1940. Mission clearly gospel-centered. Pastoral succession in progress Luter Jr. -> Chip Luter III. | URL research: matched 8282 I-10 Service Rd, New Orleans, Pastor Fred Luter, SBC megachurch [2026-05-19] Phase 7 signatory cross-reference: +1 new ledger entry (Nashville Statement 2017). Final aggregate: green.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source franklinabc.com
[2] Live source franklinabc.com/about/our-pastor
[3] Live source en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Avenue_Baptist_Church
[4] Live source nola.com/news/pastors-franklin-ave-baptist-church/article…

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.