Mississippi College Leaders Attend SBC Meetings in Birmingham

President Blake Thompson

President Blake Thompson will head a team of Mississippi College leaders attending the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention meetings in Birmingham.

The dates for the marathon of sessions in the North Alabama city are June 11-12. More than 10,000 SBC messengers from across the USA will convene and pack nearly 40 area hotels.

On the agenda, SBC President J.D. Greear of North Carolina is expected to be re-elected Tuesday. With 14.8 million members, the SBC remains the world’s largest Baptist denomination.

The annual SBC meetings will make Birmingham the perfect spot for Mississippi College alumni and friends to mingle. The Blue & Gold group will gather June 11 at TopGolf. The two-hour event Tuesday starting at 6:30 p.m. The city’s premier entertainment venue is located at 1111 24^th Street North.

TopGolf offers an opportunity for guests to hit targets with micro-chipped golf balls, enjoy delicious food and engage in fellowship time. The meeting place is where Dr. Thompson will discuss major developments at the 5,000-student Baptist-affiliated university.

A new Honors College will enroll its first 14 freshmen in late August. International programs will be expanded with the launch of the Edward McMillan Center for Education Abroad. The center is named for the late Dr. McMillan, a beloved MC history professor and former dean of graduate studies. He established the Christian university’s London Semester Abroad program in 1990.

Spanish professor Beth Stapleton, an MC graduate and chair of the institution’s international studies committee, will lead the center.

President Thompson announced details at his March 29 inauguration speech on the Clinton campus.

Members of the MC family in Birmingham should also learn about key dates as the Baptist-affiliated university begins its 194^th academic year in late August.

Fall sports schedules include the kickoff of the 2019 Choctaws football season. MC opens with a road game facing the Alcorn State Braves in Lorman on September 7. The first home game of the season at Robinson-Hale Stadium in Clinton will be September 14. The Choctaws host Albany State of Georgia that Saturday.

Also noteworthy on the calendar, the Choctaws will face Shorter at the university’s 2019 Homecoming on October 26. This marks MC’s 5^th season back in the Gulf South Conference and NCAA Division II athletics.

Dr. Thompson will have company in Birmingham. Others on hand for the meetings will be longtime MC administrators such as Jim Turcotte, Karon McMillan and Chad Phillips. Admissions director Kyle Brantley will make the trip to Alabama along with staff colleagues, including Michael Wright, Angie Hardin and Cameron Treadwell.

The SBC meetings are booked at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. The 2020 SBC sessions will be in Orlando, Florida.

To register for the Mississippi College alumni and friends gathering at TopGolf, go to alumni.mc.edu/sbc2019 or contact Chad Phillips at 601-925-3317 or cphillip@mc.edu