Religious roots run deep in South Louisiana

• Advocate staff report
• Published: Dec 30, 2005

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People of many faiths can find spiritual homes as well as plenty of paths to explore in Baton Rouge.

Baton Rouge has a diverse population, drawing people internationally to work in the petrochemical industry, medical fields and higher education, among others. There is a range of places to worship, including traditional Christian churches that have been here more than 100 years, synagogues and thriving temples for people of Hindu, Buddhist and Bahá'í faiths.

Interfaith efforts are a large part of the religious community. The leading ecumenical group is the Greater Baton Rouge Federation of Churches and Synagogues.

This group brings together the different faiths for service projects and community dialogue. It is also a comprehensive resource for information on area places of worship. For information, call (225) 267-5600.

Catholicism runs through the fabric of the state's history which is deeply rooted in French and Spanish influences. Missionaries from France and Spain were sent into the region in the early 18th century. The Catholic influence remains one of the largest religious influences in the state today.

The Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge is housed at the Catholic Life Center on Acadian Thruway. The Baton Rouge diocese covers 11 civil parishes.

For information about schools and religious parishes in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, visit the Web site at www.diobr.org/.

Some of the area's larger churches include Shiloh Baptist Church, Bethany World Prayer Center, The Healing Place Church and St. Joseph Cathedral.

Churches located downtown are some of the oldest houses of worship in the city. St. Joseph Cathedral, First United Methodist, First Presbyterian, St. James Episcopal, Mount Zion First Baptist and First Baptist churches are all downtown.

There are a number of Baptist churches throughout the area, many associated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention USA.

The Rev. C. Penrose St. Amant wrote in his book, "The Southern Baptists of Louisiana," that Baptists came into the old culture of French and Spanish influences of Roman Catholicism and predominantly American culture and "frontier Protestantism" at the beginning of the 19th century. They would eventually become among the strongest religious influences in the state as well.

The roots of Methodism in the area can be traced to the heart of downtown to First United Methodist Church. In fact many of the downtown churches provide a glimpse into the history of their denominations.

In the early days of the United Methodist denomination, the late 1700s and early 1800s, ministers moved with the people. As itinerant pastors traveled through an area, services would be held in either private homes or buildings large enough to accommodate worshippers.