News Articles by William H. Perkins Jr.

JACKSON, Miss. (BP) -- Shawn Parker, pastor of First Baptist Church, Columbus, Miss., was unanimously called on Dec. 19 by the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB) to succeed longtime Executive Director-Treasurer Jim Futral, who will formally retire at the end of February after more than 21 years of service. Parker will begin his duties as Executive Director-Treasurer Elect on Jan. 13 and will become Executive Director-Treasurer on March 1, upon Futral’s retirement.

JACKSON, Miss. (BP) — Messengers to the Mississippi Baptist Convention unanimously passed a resolution supporting a constitutional amendment that would have defined human life as beginning at conception. The resolution, passed during the 176th annual meeting Nov. 1-2 at First Baptist Church in Jackson, called on Mississippi Baptists to vote yes on the Personhood Amendment […]

SMITHVILLE, Miss. (BP)--Pastor Wes White's voice carried a hint of concern as he prepared for the worship service on the second Sunday after an EF-5 killer tornado leveled virtually all of the small community of Smithville, Miss., April 27, including Smithville Baptist Church.

[QUOTE@right@185="Pray for our responders. … Fatigue that is physical, mental and emotional sets in, and they need help and encouragement."
-- Miss. exec Jim Futral]JACKSON, Miss. (BP)--Jim Futral, executive director of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, has issued a call to prayer on Sunday, May 15, for the victims of the recent deadly tornadoes throughout the South.

JACKSON, Miss. (BP)–Messengers to the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s 175th annual session approved a 2011 Cooperative Program budget of $33,001,945, including a one-quarter percent-of-budget increase in support of Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries. The $33 million budget, however, is a decrease of 3.2 percent ($1,092,377) from the 2010 budget of $34,094,322. Although the […]

JACKSON, Miss. (BP)–Gary Richardson, pastor of North Oxford Baptist Church in Oxford, Miss., was elected as the new president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention during the 174th annual meeting at First Baptist Church in Jackson Oct. 27-28. Richardson succeeds Mickey Dalrymple, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Columbus, who completed his second one-year term as […]

JACKSON, Miss. (BP)–Messengers at the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s 173rd annual meeting approved a record Cooperative Program budget for 2009 and elected Columbus pastor Mickey Dalrymple to a second term as president. The Oct. 28-29 sessions were held at First Baptist Church in Jackson. The 2009 Cooperative Program budget of $34,940,629, approved without opposition, represents an […]

LONG BEACH, Miss. (BP)–After Hurricane Katrina wiped out its downtown campus, First Baptist Church in Long Beach, Miss., began planning its new complex with an eye toward the future. In addition to moving farther inland and incorporating the most up-to-date ideas on church design, electronics and other equipment, First Baptist members insisted on seven-inch-thick prefabricated […]

GULFPORT, Miss. (BP)--Although thousands of Baptist volunteers have come and gone from the Mississippi Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina's onslaught in late August 2005, many more people and groups had good intentions to come and help but never made the trip for one reason or another.

JACKSON, Miss. (BP)--The Mississippi Baptist Convention Board has voted to move forward on a developer's $18 million offer to purchase the property that served as the home of Gulfshore Baptist Assembly before being destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.