New Director of Communication Services Price shares journey of surrendering to ministry

By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist

Although Seth Price spent the past 11 years serving in Arkansas, his story began in his hometown of Kosciusko, Mississippi. Now the new director of communication services at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB), Price grew up attending First Church, Kosciusko. At 13, during summer camp at Gulfshore Baptist Assembly, he dedicated his life to Christ. His youth pastor, who remains a close friend, discipled him through high school.

When it came time to “leave the nest,” Price enrolled at Mississippi College unsure of his future but eager to follow God’s direction.

Saying “Yes” to the Unseen

“I don’t feel like I had one moment that I would point back to,” Price said of his ministry calling. “Since surrendering to ministry, in every transition, it has always been saying ‘yes’ to something I couldn’t see yet. In high school, the only forms of ministry I could see at my church were a youth pastor, a missionary, a preacher, or a choir leader, and I didn’t feel like I fit any of those roles. My youth pastor said, ‘I feel like God is going to use you in ministry. I know you can’t quite see that, but I can see that potential in you.’”

As a freshman at Mississippi College, Price had yet to declare a major. “I was just afraid to surrender to the wrong pathway,” he said. “I remember a specific day I had to make my class schedule for the next semester. I had prayed a lot about that, and I was running out of classes to get into. Because I was still undeclared, I was assigned a random professor that I didn’t even know.”

One day, he wandered into the music department, where Dr. Lewis Oswalt noticed him. “He asked, ‘Do you need help?’ and invited me into his office,” Price recalled. “He called the registrar and professors and helped me change my major to Christian studies. He got me into every class I needed, all in that afternoon. I’ll always remember — in that moment, I was saying ‘yes’ to God, but I needed help. That freshman year of college was really a season of surrendering to ministry.”

Steps of Faith

At Mississippi College, Price served in the Baptist Student Union as a worship leader. For two summers, he worked at Central Hills Baptist Retreat near home, serving with childhood and college friends. He also met his future wife, Amanda, on a BSU mission trip to Indonesia.

After graduating in 2008, Price was called to Crossgates Church in Brandon as associate worship pastor. During his first year there, he and Amanda married. He served at Crossgates for five years and became close friends with the college pastor, who later invited him to help plant The Summit Church in central Arkansas.

In 2014, the Prices — Seth, Amanda, and their two-year-old son — moved to Conway, Arkansas, stepping out in faith. Support poured in from believers in Kosciusko, Brandon, and other Mississippi towns.

For the first four years, Price served as worship pastor, which also involved communications work. When a third church was planted, he moved into a central support role as communications pastor, then later became executive pastor of ministry. In that role, he oversaw communications, technology, and global missions teams while working with ministry leaders across four church plants.

A Return Home

“In the back of our minds, we always wondered if we’d be in Arkansas for the long haul,” Price said. “We were pretty far from family where we were, and we had two other sons along the way. Then God started speaking to us. Over the last two or three years, we felt like God was stirring something different.”

Early this year, the couple began praying about what might be next. “This summer, we fasted and prayed every week,” Price said. “At the end of the summer, we felt like it was time, so we took a step of faith — like we did going to Arkansas. On a day of fasting and praying, we found out about this job and felt like God brought it to us. The next day my wife found out about a job at Mississippi College, and she was hired the day after that. We listed our house, it sold in 48 hours, and we moved two weeks later.”

Price began reaching out to college and church friends in the Jackson area, seeking opportunities. One call was to Rob Dent, then communications director at Colonial Heights Church in Ridgeland and Price’s former college friend. Dent had recently announced his transition and wasn’t sure what opportunities were available.

“When I found out about this communications position being open, I called Rob back,” Price said. “He said, ‘Do you want to talk to the guy who’s in that job now?’ Within 10 minutes of applying, I was on the phone with Tanner Cade and talked with him his whole commute home.”

Cade had just informed the MBCB of his move to the Florida Baptist Convention days earlier, and Price’s timing was perfect. A few weeks before, he had called Paul Pinson, MBCB Human Resources Officer. Paul told me, ‘We remembered you, but you applied before we could call you!’”

“I just felt like God brought the job to us,” Price said.

Making Vision Come to Life

“I love getting to sit in a seat that puts practical steps to vision,” Price said. “In every season, God has always put me next to visionaries and given me opportunities to help execute their visions. I enjoy observing how people, systems, and processes function and deciphering how to bring order to all of that. My aim is to make complicated things simpler. That’s where I’ve flourished in ministry and gotten to see God use me.”

“Getting to be around guys like Dr. Shawn Parker (MBCB Executive Director-Treasurer), Jon Martin (MBCB Chief Strategy Officer), and Barri Shirley (MBCB Chief Operating Officer) — it’s energizing to dream alongside them,” he added.

The leadership at MBCB is equally enthusiastic about having Price join in the mission of relating to and assisting Mississippi Baptists.

“I am excited to have Seth Price join the Mississippi Baptist team,” said Martin. “Seth brings years of church ministry experience, and he specifically has experience in church communications. It is evident that Seth has a servant’s heart that will translate not only to serving Mississippi Baptist departments but will also reach into the local church through consultations, training, and assistance.

“I am looking forward to seeing how Seth leads us forward in making our communications clearer and better as we strive to equip the local church to make disciples in Mississippi and the world.”