The Baptist Record - Journal of the Mississippi Baptist Convention since 1877 July 17, 2026

Pastor Training Schools equip local leaders for ministry in small churches

The first 14 men graduated from the Pastor Training Schools on Dec. 15, 2025, at Blue Mountain University. (Photo credit: Pastor Training Schools)

Pastor Training Schools equip local leaders for ministry in small churches

July 17, 2026

By Megan YoungEditor JACKSON, Miss. — “Everybody knows the problem churches throughout our state and all over the Bible belt have,” said Jay Parks. “We…

Resolution sends ‘a clear message’ against antisemitism

(Photo credit: Baptist Press)

Resolution sends ‘a clear message’ against antisemitism

July 15, 2026

Super Summer students return home ready ‘to proclaim the excellencies of God’

Super Summer students return home ready ‘to proclaim the excellencies of God’

July 15, 2026

Explore the Bible: July 19

Explore the Bible: July 19

July 15, 2026

I want to start a Women’s Ministry in my church. Now what?

(Photo credit: Bart Lambright)

I want to start a Women’s Ministry in my church. Now what?

July 13, 2026

Sen. Lindsey Graham
dies suddenly at 71
WASHINGTON (BP) — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Southern Baptist who began supporting Donald Trump after first challenging him for the 2016 presidency, died suddenly July 11 after reportedly suffering an aortic tear at his Washington home. The 71-year-old had returned hours earlier from a diplomatic meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, and was poised for re-election to a fifth term as the senior senator from South Carolina after winning the Republican primary in June. His support of Ukraine and Israel under an aggressive foreign policy platform characterized his political service, as did his engagement with the church and God as a Southern Baptist. Tony Wolfe, executive director and treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, led the executive staff in praying for Graham’s family July 13. Graham had served in the U.S. Senate since 2003. He chaired the Senate Budget Committee and was a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Prior to serving in the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 as the first Republican from the Third Congressional District of South Carolina since 1877. He was widely loved among Republicans across the state, in 2008 becoming the first candidate to receive more than 1 million votes in a general election, according to his official Senate biography. He served more than six years in the U.S. Air Force as an attorney, and was a veteran of both the South Carolina Air National Guard and the U.S. Air Force Reserves. He retired from the Air Force Reserves in 2015 as a colonel.