Mississippi College Leaders Attending Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix

Director of Admissions Kyle Brantley

The Southern Baptist Convention’s biggest meeting of the year will attract key Mississippi College leaders to Phoenix.

SBC President Steve Gaines of the Memphis area will welcome thousands of visitors from across the nation for a marathon of sessions in Arizona June 13-14.

Prayer, evangelism and financial stewardship will be the emphasis of the annual SBC meetings. “If we pray and abandon ourselves to the Lord, He will use us exponentially to take the Gospel to the people,” Gaines said. The SBC leader serves as senior pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee.

At the 2017 convention, Gaines will be nominated to serve a second term by his son, Grant Gaines, pastor of Calvary Church in Jackson, Tennessee.

Mississippi College admissions leaders and other administrators of the Baptist-affiliated university will be on hand in the Arizona city once again. Phoenix hosted SBC meetings in 2003 and 2011.

“The SBC offers us a chance to stay in touch with many of the alumni base in the ministry,” says MC admissions director Kyle Brantley. “It gives us in admissions the specific opportunity to recruit their children or youth at their churches.”

Brantley, assistant admissions director Michael Wright and director of transfer recruitment Angie Hardin are making plans to attend. Others joining them include: Bill Townsend, vice president for advancement, and Mark Hughes, associate vice president and dean of enrollment services.

Mississippi College alumni and friends are invited to a reception at the Phoenix Convention Center on Tuesday June 13. It is set for 5-7 p.m. at Room North 231 A/B/C on the facility’s Level 200. There will be plates of delicious food and plenty of fellowship time.

The Southern Baptist Convention theme this year is “Pray! for Such a Time as This” based on passages in Luke 18:1 and Esther 4:14. David Jett, senior pastor at Crossgates Baptist Church in Brandon, will offer the closing prayer at the June 13 morning session.

Visitors in Phoenix will hear an update on the latest developments for the 191-year-old university in Clinton. Enrolling more than 5,200 students in Fall 2016, MC is America’s second oldest Baptist college.

For additional information, contact Chad Phillips, digital media and communications manager at cphillip@mc.edu or 601-925-3317.