Shreveport South Seventh-day Adventist Church

A Brief Description of Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport South Organized in 1963

See Shreveport First Church for the early beginnings of Adventists in Shreveport.

Inside the Virginia Avenue church, which had become very crowded by 1962. Photo courtesy of the Southwestern Union Record.

When the facilities at the Virginia Avenue church in Shreveport became too small and consideration was being given to expanding, a group of members decided to move to another part of the city and begin a new church. With conference approval, a new congregation of thirty-nine members branched off on October 19, 1963 (Martin, 1976). The new church was organized in March 1964, with forty-one charter members. The congregation met for a time in facilities rented from the First Christian church on Youree Drive, and then later from the Broadmoor Presbyterian church. At this time they became known as known as the Broadmoor Seventh-day Adventist church. After four months as an organized church, when $300 had been set aside in the church building fund, a business meeting was called on July 26, 1964, to select a search committee of three individuals to find a suitable building site (Kostenko, 1996).

A New Church in phases

The first phase of the building program included a chapel with Sabbath School rooms and a small kitchenette. *Photo courtesy of the Southwestern Union Record.*

A three-year search of possible building sites in both Broadmoor and across the river in Bossier City ended with a choice 3.26 acre tract on Colquitt Road in south Shreveport. The first phase of the church building program included a chapel with Sabbath school rooms and a small kitchenette (Kostenko, 1996). In 1968, it was voted to change the name of the church to the Shreveport-Summer Grove church because of its new location, although the name was later changed to Shreveport South church (Minutes, 1968). The Shreveport-Summer Grove congregation began building their new church in 1969 (Record, 1970). Their first services held in the new church were on April 3, 1971. A formal open house was held on April 23. The next construction phase did not begin until 1984, and it was at this time that the foundations were laid for the fellowship hall and the sanctuary. Upon the completion of the fellowship hall, another open house was held on September 21, 1985. But the sanctuary stood incomplete with just its walls and roof for the next 10 years until the members once again were energized to complete their project. The crowning act in the long twenty-nine year building program was a consecration service and open house held on September 14, 1996. Joining in the celebration were guests from far and near, including six former pastors. This celebration was made complete when four persons were baptized in the new baptistry (Kostenko, 1996).

In 1999 a new ten foot by sixteen foot sign was erected at the intersection of Mansfield Road and Colquitt Road. Approximately 25,000 vehicles passed through that intersection every day (Dixon and Nugent, 1999).

In 1999 a memorial of the Ten Commandments was placed on the front lawn of the Shreveport South church as a reminder to the church and community that God’s law is still binding. The commandments were engraved on two rose-colored granite columns which sat on top of a three-foot foundation. This memorial attracted the attention of motorists who sometimes drove through the parking lot for a closer look (Nugent and Dixon, 2000).