The Warren County Baptist Association will host a 5th Sunday fellowship and fundraiser at the E. D. Straughter Building Sunday at 3 p.m. The Rev. Charlie Blackmore will be the featured speaker.

Proceeds from the event go to support different areas of ministry supported by the association.

The Rev. Joseph Brisco is the moderator of the association, appointed in 2023. He received his degree in theology from Mississippi Baptist Seminary in 2000. He also serves as the pastor of Pleasant Hill M. B. Church.

“We consist of 48 churches in the city and county,” he said.

After taking a serious hit from COVID and losing members, the churches and association are building back, Brisco said.

“We are connected with the National Baptist Association. We’re connected with the State Baptist Association. We are an extension of those,” he said.  “Most of the churches are small. The Warren County Baptist Association has been a pillar of the community for over 100 years. The three pillars we stand on are education, community outreach and keeping up the Warren County Baptist Center building (the E. D. Straughter Building) itself.”

The board consists of six elected officers and also appoints officers, all of whom are unpaid volunteer positions.

Brisco said there are auxiliaries who work with the association in the areas of women’s ministry, youth, Sunday school and choir, to name a few. They work from the building. The association also helps to place ministers in churches as needed.

For the educational pillar, the association helps connect those who are interested in going into ministry with the seminary in Jackson. They provide support for seminary students from the Straughter Building with a dedicated space and computer. The association also helps with Sunday school instruction and scholarships for youth.

When it comes to community outreach, the association has helped during the Jackson water crisis, the Yazoo water crisis and has raised money for storms and hurricanes.

“We work in cooperation with the USDA to the community,” Brisco said. “We also go to nursing homes and facilities. That’s part of our outreach.”

Efforts to revitalize the Straughter Building, which had become unusable, kicked back up in 2023.

“We’re still lacking a lot of stuff we need,” Brisco said. “But the fundraiser this Sunday goes to these outreach ministries and the ministry we do here, teaching especially.”

The E. D. Straughter Building, named after one of the association’s earlier moderators, is located at 1411 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. In the past several years, Brisco and other church members have put much work into the building. The facility has been painted and received new plumbing and electrical and landscape maintenance. Recently, a new air conditioning system was installed.

The building not only houses the association, but also serves as a meeting place for administrative and educational sessions. There is a central worship area, kitchen and fellowship hall, resource room for seminary students, conference room and office. The association purchased the building in 1966, according to the Rev. Dr. L. A. Hall Sr., who serves as vice-moderator.

“This is the community that we’ve grown up in,” Hall said.

Although the primary source of donations to the 5th Sunday fundraiser come from the churches the association serves, donations from individuals are welcomed.

Hall said donations aren’t always monetary.

“We’ve cut grass,” he said. “We’ve had many people come in to help us.”

Some of the churches in the association volunteer to work on areas of the Straughter Building, maintaining and cleaning bathrooms, polishing furnishings or doing yard work.

The fundraising event will feature preaching and worship, followed by a dinner.

Brisco emphasized that although the fundraiser is intended to help Baptist churches, everyone is welcome to attend.

“We’re here for the community, to serve,” he said.