According to Mississippi Baptist historians, Z. T. Leavell and T. J. Bailey, the first attempt by Mississippi Baptists to form a statewide convention failed.1 In 1823, three Baptist associations—Pearl River, Union, and Mississippi—proposed a meeting for all Mississippi Baptists for "preserving and continuing the ties of brotherly love"; for "union between sister associations; for "the propagation of the pure doctrines of the gospel"; and finally to prevent "innovations in practice and heresies in doctrine'" (p. 1321). After five to six years of ups and downs, the initial convention appeared to... Read more →