By Tony Martin
Editor
The Mississippi Baptist Historical Commission (MBHC), in conjunction with the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB), recently completed a project revising the definitive book on Mississippi Baptist history.
The original 1971 edition, “A History of Mississippi Baptists, 1780-1970,” written by Richard Aubrey McLemore, has been updated by Robert Rogers to include more than 50 years of recent history in a new edition titled “Mississippi Baptists: A History of Southern Baptists in the Magnolia State.”
Anthony Kay, the previous director of the Historical Commission, said, “When I became the Executive Director of the Mississippi Baptist Historical Commission in 2012, our staff, Miss Heather Weeden (now Heather Moore) and I discussed goals we wanted to achieve. Those included a better relationship between the personnel of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, more participation with our churches in preserving historical materials and anniversary celebration, and producing a revised and updated history of Mississippi Baptists. This history was a priority project with my predecessor, Dr. Edward McMillan. Happily, we were able to achieve progress in all those areas.”
“If you love a person, you want to know about that person,” Rogers said. “And if we love our Baptist family, we should know where we came from. A lot of people have no idea that the very first Baptist pastor in Mississippi was arrested for preaching because his district was under control of the Spanish. They were persecuted. They had to struggle.
“When you realize where we came from, you understand better who we are, and we have a great heritage and a great story. There’s some very inspiring people. There’s some really cautionary tales, too, where people in power were not held accountable and got into a lot of serious trouble.”
The book doesn’t shy away from the darker side of Mississippi Baptist history. Space is devoted to the McCall controversy of the late 1940’s that almost split the Mississippi Baptist Convention in 1949.
“People need to know these stories and the story about Dr. Lewis Nobles is such a tragic story,” Rogers said. “But it needs to be in there.
“The nature of history is such that you don’t cover anything up,” Rogers continued. “It’s like warts and all. This is who we are. I was really given freedom to tell the truth. I’m very straightforward about the struggles of the Civil Rights movement. It’s not all good, but a lot of good things eventually came. It changed for the better.”
“Mississippi Baptists were forged 234 years ago in the crucible of hard work, faith in God and each other, and a willingness to cooperate with each other,” said Kay. “This new book traces the threads from the beginning of Mississippi Baptists until the present times. As you read the chapters, you will be aware of varied emotions. Mississippi Baptists are a wonderful, but imperfect people. You will marvel at the fortitude and daring spirit that has compelled them through the years.
“Today let this book that tells the story of Mississippi Baptists challenge us to value our roots, and with the faith like those before us, may we also through cooperation aspire to become all that God wants us to be,” Kay concluded. “Two hundred years from now what will the historians write about us? God bless Mississippi Baptists as we seek to share Christ through our roots, faith and cooperation.”
Robert Rogers, who holds a Th.D. in church history degree from New Orleans Seminary, authored the project. Rogers pastored for 33 years in Mississippi and Georgia, one of those churches being First Church, Poplarville, for eight years.
Richard Aubrey McLemore (1903-1976) was dean of Mississippi Southern College (now the University of Southern Mississippi) and also served a term as acting president. He was president of Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College in Clinton from 1957-1968, and director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History from 1969-1973. He was the author of numerous history books and articles.
One copy of “Mississippi Baptists: A History of Southern Baptists in the Magnolia State” will be sent to every Mississippi Baptist church in the state at no cost. A digital copy of the book and more information about how to purchase your own physical copy can be found here.
