Three ministerial appointments of interest in the Lake Charles area have been made by the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Rev. Frances Hooton is the new superintendent of the church’s Lake Charles-Acadiana District with offices in Lafayette. A native of Baton Rouge, she has been serving United Methodist churches as pastor for 30 years.

Rev. Tracy L. MacKenzie has been appointed lead pastor at St. Luke-Simpson United Methodist Church in Lake Charles. Her appointment will be on an interim basis through June of 2024.

Rev. Steven J. Porter is the new pastor of Moss Bluff United Methodist Church. He has also been appointed to serve at Squyres UMC in Ragley.

Hooton, until June 2023, was pastor of Aldersgate UMC in Slidell. She will be serving as superintendent for the 74 UMC churches in the district that stretches from Lake Charles to Lafayette to Houma.

During the spring of 2023, Hooton said some United Methodist churches and pastors chose to leave the denomination over issues of LBGTQ inclusion. She said St. Luke-Simpson UMC voted to remain United Methodist after a lengthy and exhaustive season of discernment.

Hooton said the St. Luke-Simpson pastor surrendered his credentials in the UMC and that left a leadership position. She said MacKenzie was appointed by her as an extension of the office of Bishop Delores J. Williamston.

“Rev. MacKenzie brings over 35 years of ministerial experience to St. Luke-Simpson and will lead this church into a continued season of missional outreach and community vitality,” Hooton said.

St. Luke-Simpson demonstrated unwavering unity, she said, in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Delta, the Winter Storm of 2021 and unprecedented flooding the same year.

“With a longstanding commitment to outreach in the name of Jesus Christ, St. Luke-Simpson United Methodist Church continues to play a crucial role in the resilience of Lake Charles, Louisiana,” Hooton said.

MacKenzie was born in New Orleans, received a marketing degree from the University of New Orleans and her master of divinity degree in 1990 from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.

Her first pastoral assignment had her serving churches at Church Point, Maxie, and Ville Platte. She became associate pastor at Henning Memorial UMC in Sulphur in 1992 and served there until 2006. She then served at UMC churches in Alexandria, Slidell, and Abbeville. She retired July 1 this year.

Rev. Porter has served as a pastor in the Louisiana Conference for 38 years in churches across the state. His most recent charge consisted of churches in Franklin, Berwick, and Patterson. He is a native of Houma.

While at LSU, he received God’s  call to be a pastor in the UMC. He received a master’s degree at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky.

In the 1990s, Porter served at Westlake UMC. He said coming back to this area brings back many memories and a fond sense of homecoming.