After 39 years leading Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, one of the largest megachurches in the New Orleans area, Pastor Fred Luter Jr. announced Sunday that he plans to retire next fall.

In his place, he has asked the church to consider voting in his son Fred "Chip" Luter III as its next leader.

"Who would have thought that a young street preacher from the Lower 9th Ward would be elected by the 65 members of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Mission Church back in September of 1986 as pastor," Luter, 69, said to his congregation. "Then that young preacher, who had never pastored before, would lead Franklin Avenue to be... one of the largest churches in the state of Louisiana."

In nearly four decades, Luter has presided over thousands of christenings, baptisms and weddings, helped to rebuild bo

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