Ben VanHorn Wins Byrd Memorial Preaching Award

Mr. Harrell Byrd, Ben VanHorn, and Dr. Burn Page

For the last four years, a Mississippi College student named Chase has won the Byrd Memorial Preaching Award. This time, MC junior Ben VanHorn broke the streak and received the prestigious honor.

A 21-year-old Christian Studies major from Clinton, VanHorn was the choice to receive the award announced at MC chapel services Tuesday at First Baptist Church, Clinton.

Last year’s winner was Chase Sims of Laurel. For three years in a row, Chase Porter of Picayune received the award to make that a record at MC.

“This is really encouraging for me,” VanHorn said. “I’m happy I won – I also entered it last year.”

It was a case of VanHorn’s perseverance paying off. The Clintonian can also deliver a pretty good sermon.

A 2008 Clinton High graduate, Ben is the son of Wayne and Terri VanHorn. Wayne VanHorn serves as the dean of the MC School of Christian Studies and the Arts and is a former preacher at First Baptist Church in Columbia. The MC professor pens a weekly column for “The Baptist Record.”

It was when he was a junior at Clinton High that Ben VanHorn decided to go into the ministry. “This was not really something I planned on – God had other plans for me.”

Ben plans to attend New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary after earning his MC bachelor’s degree in 2012. His older brother, Nathan, an MC graduate, is a doctoral candidate at the same New Orleans seminary.

Members of the Byrd family, the VanHorns and hundreds of MC students were on hand for the announcement. Ben VanHorn also preached at chapel services Tuesday shortly after winning the award. His message touched on the parable of the good Samaritan.

“The bottom line of Ben’s sermon is that Christ wants us to love everybody without putting artificial restrictions on that love,” Wayne VanHorn said when reached at his office at Provine Chapel. “As his father, I can say Ben honestly tries to live what he preached in chapel today. I am proud of him for who he is as a young Christian man.”

Joining the awards ceremonies were Brandon residents Harrell Byrd and his wife, Charlotte. Both have a passion for Mississippi College that spans several decades. Harrell Byrd is a 1946 MC alumnus and his wife is a 1978 graduate of the Baptist-affiliated school.

Burn Page, interim chairman of the Department of Christian Studies and director of the Institute of Christian Leadership, says an MC committee made an excellent choice in selecting Ben VanHorn. The award also carries an $800 stipend.

Besides being a superb student, VanHorn serves as a tutor with the Department of Christian Studies, works at the Leland Speed Library, and plays on MC’s nationally ranked table tennis team. VanHorn travels to Rochester, Minnesota in April to participate in the national collegiate table tennis championships.  The MC team is ranked No. 4 among the more than 150 collegiate teams in the USA and Canada.

VanHorn’s award came a day after he returned to Mississippi College following a spring break trip to Israel.

For more information on the Byrd Memorial Preaching Award, contact Lynda Street at the MC School of Christian Studies at 601.925.3218 or street@mc.edu.