On this day, November 14, 1973, Ernest Earl Kelly became executive director-treasurer of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board. Kelly was baptized and ordained by the Cherry Creek Baptist Church in Pontotoc County, which was also the home church of J.B. Gambrell, the first executive of the MBCB in 1885. Kelly met his wife, Amanda Harding, when he was associate pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Tupelo. Active in state convention affairs, Kelly had been pastor of First Baptist Church, Holly Springs for 14 years, and Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Jackson for six years before his election as the executive of the MBCB.

Dr. Rogers is the author of Mississippi Baptists: A History of Southern Baptists in the Magnolia State, expected publication date in 2025.