New Collegiate Ministries Consultant Phillips shares journey of ministry calling

By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist

“I am thrilled to have Mandy (Phillips) in our Consultant role in the Department of Collegiate Ministries!” said Sam Ivy, Director of Collegiate Ministries at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB). 

“With over two decades of BSU and campus ministry experience, Mandy brings a wealth of experience, insight, and passion for reaching lost students with the Gospel. Her heart for the nations and mobilizing students will be impactful in her new role overseeing our Summer Missions program. Lastly, Mandy has a heart for the local Baptist churches in our state that just adds to my excitement for her to serve in this role.”

Growing up in Mississippi and attending First Church, Florence, Phillips can remember her introduction to the Gospel as a young girl. At eight years old, she professed her personal faith in Christ and began the journey of knowing Him. When her family experienced some transitions, however, church lost priority. Although her relationship with the Lord helped her through the difficult seasons, her occasional appearance at church, as well as being one of the youngest in her large group, was overwhelming. 

During ninth grade, Phillips’ friends repeatedly invited her back to church. As she got involved again, she realized she did not have the close relationship to Jesus that she wanted. 

“That was a really big turning point in my life where I said, ‘I want to surrender everything to Jesus.,’” said Phillips. “My life changed in the depth of my walk with Christ. When I look back to my decision at eight years old, I really do think it was a sincere faith and that I didn’t understand everything yet, but the Lord kept me and honored me in my decision. In high school, I began to understand how to walk with God every day and how it was a daily, joyful privilege — not a burden.”

Phillips began to use outlets at school such as athletics to share her testimony. Soon, her youth group looked to her as a leader and she was chosen to serve as president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Humbled, Phillips could not understand how the girl who missed church for five years was now serving in leadership positions. Those who walked alongside her, however, watched her daily live out an authentic faith and gave her the safe space to begin leading others. 

In her senior year of high school, she was encouraged to consider a call to ministry. Not originally on her radar, Phillips prayed and talked with her pastor and other leaders, and realized God truly was leading her to a ministry field with the gifts and passion He had given her. 

Before ever attending college herself, Phillips had an interest in collegiate ministry. Intentionally selecting a college with a strong Baptist Student Union (BSU) presence, she went to William Carey University, where God solidified her call. 

“In 1998, I was a BSU Summer Missionary in Connecticut,” said Phillips. “In so many ways, that trip changed the trajectory of my life because I saw the need for the Gospel outside of the South. I saw life on mission and I saw church in a different setting where the percentage of Christians is so much lower. It had a profound impact on my heart to the point that when I was graduating, all of a sudden, I was open to moving wherever He led me to go.”

Looking back, Phillips has served in five different Baptist conventions throughout the years. Beginning as Associate BSU Director at William Carey University, she commuted to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for a year before moving to Louisiana and interning with the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) there. 

Phillips then felt led to Providence, Rhode Island, where she helped begin ministry to Brown University through the North American Mission Board (NAMB). With such a small percentage of Baptist churches in the North, the New England Baptist Convention covers six states. At the time, Rhode Island was less than 1% evangelical Christian. After three years, Phillips planned to stay, but she was called back to Louisiana to take a position as Associate BCM Director at Louisiana State University (LSU). 

“I began to pray about it,” Phillips commented, “and initially did not think I would move back to the South. I asked others to pray with me because it was hard to even understand how God would want me to return there when Rhode Island’s percentage of Christians was so much smaller. But I was going to do what He wanted me to do, and it became clear that He wanted me to move.”

Phillips loved the BCM at LSU, as the ministry was intentional and mission-minded. She worked there for five years before becoming Associate BCM Director at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville for a couple of years. Every campus she joined, God was already working and preparing the hearts of students she came to know and love.

During her stay in Tennessee, her friend Josh reached out to her from Pennsylvania and the two began dating and fell in love. Josh served in bivocational ministry, and when they married in 2013, Phillips moved to Pennsylvania where God opened the door for her to work in the collegiate ministry of Pennsylvania State University, as well as in the local association and the Pennsylvania Baptist Convention. 

Phillips became pregnant, and the couple sensed the Lord moving them elsewhere. “It was the first time in my adult life where moving back to Mississippi felt like it might be the right thing to do instead of the disobedient move,” Phillips explained. The couple prayed about it together, and the next summer God opened the door for her husband to work as kitchen manager at Belhaven University.

“At eight months pregnant, it was not an ideal time for me to find a job,” Phillips laughed. “BSU is also a very niche career, so my options were rather narrow. But we moved back in faith, trusting God with my job as well. There are really only three full-time BSU positions in the Jackson-Metro area; it is not a big field, and they were all occupied when we moved back. Three weeks after we moved, however, the Associate BSU Director at Mississippi College (MC) resigned. I interviewed for the job the same day I was scheduled to be checked into the hospital to have my son, and with a follow-up interview a few weeks after his birth, I got the job.”

One maternity leave and a year into her job later, the MC BSU Director announced his move to another ministry in Tennessee, and Phillips stepped in as interim before becoming Director. She served at MC over 10 years, with the encouragement of her husband and their two children, Jack and Lily. 

Phillips now serves as Collegiate Ministries Consultant since joining the MBCB team on June 1. She began her journey as a shy girl in and out of church; now she has stood on stages and spoken to thousands of college students, leading them not only to be involved in church and to be on mission, but to build strong foundations on nothing else but Christ. 

“My life was greatly impacted as a BSU student,” Phillips shared, “and I’ve seen generations of students change the trajectory of their lives because of their experience with BSU. God’s work in and through college students is pivotal for the Kingdom, and I am excited about coming on board with the MBCB to help further that cause. I look forward to supporting Baptist Student Unions and local churches in their efforts to reach and disciple collegians.

“I’m tasked with overseeing the BSU Summer Missions efforts and I know that will be a considerable assignment, but a very rewarding one. Students who serve will not only leave ripple effects at their respective locations, but they will come back even stronger to our Mississippi campuses and their local churches. It is a joy to labor for a work that affects eternity in such profound ways.”