The Baptist Record
One of the many privately-owned Baptist newspapers circulating in Mississippi in the mid-to late-nineteenth century, the Mississippi Baptist Record was founded in 1877 in the Clinton residence of Civil War veteran J.B. Gambrell. In August 1898, the Mississippi Baptist State Convention moved to end widespread confusion over the official source of Baptist news in the state by purchasing and consolidating the remaining Baptist newspapers still in existence, and retaining The Baptist Record as the name of the new entity. The Plan of Organization and Action contained within the Constitution of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, successor to the Mississippi Baptist State Convention, establishes The Baptist Record as the "official organ of the Convention and Convention Board for publication of Baptist and world religious news, the dissemination of Baptist doctrines, the creation of goodwill toward the denomination, and the promotion of the work of the Convention and the Convention Board." The Baptist Record reaches into nearly every Mississippi Baptist home and enjoys one of the highest circulation rates of any publication in the state of Mississippi. In addition, it is the third-largest news journal in the Southern Baptist Convention. From tiny hamlets on the other side of the world to the largest metropolitan churches in Mississippi, The Baptist Record continues to make a difference for the cause of Christ by providing a ministry of information to its many loyal subscribers and readers.