The Mississippi Legislature passed a bill allowing student-led prayer in public schools with a majority vote in both the Senate and the House.

Senate Bill 2633 – also known as "The Mississippi Student Religious Liberties Act of 2013"– prohibits public schools in the state from discrimination due to student's expression of religious beliefs. The bill, which passed March 6, has been sent to Gov. Phil Bryant for his signature.

Representative Mark Formby (R-Pearl River) has introduced a school prayer bill every year since 2009. He shared with The Christian Post on Tuesday his reasoning for supporting such a bill, saying, "Legislators, especially those who claim to be Christian and that represent constituencies that are predominately Christian according to polling, should make proactive moves to stand in the gap. That's what I see this particular bill doing." more >>

A local Mississippi newspaper recently received public criticism after it published, on the front page of its in-print edition, a story of a same-sex wedding with the headline: "Historic Wedding: Women wed in Laurel through smiles, tears."

Residents of Jones County, Miss., were reportedly upset because the Laurel Leader-Call referred to the same-sex wedding as "historic," even though same-sex marriage has not been legalized in the state.

The publication reportedly lost 15 subscribers over the front-page article, which was published Feb. 7, as well as received a torrent of phone calls, Facebook comments, and emails regarding its front-page story choice. more >>

Even as the Northeast was still digging out on Sunday after a massive blizzard, a tornado, part of a wave of severe storms, ripped through southern Mississippi, injuring at least a dozen people, damaging hundreds of homes and parts of the University of Southern Mississippi, and causing widespread power outages.

The twister struck a main street of Hattiesburg in Forrest County less than an hour before dark, mangling homes, commercial buildings and structures on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi.

At least 10 people were injured in surrounding Forrest County and three were hurt to the west in Marion County, but they weren't aware of any deaths, The Associated Press reported, quoting emergency officials. more >>

Religious leaders, including the Southern Baptist Convention's newly elected African-American president, have spoken out against a Mississippi Baptist church that refused to host a wedding because the bride and groom are black.

The Rev. Fred Luter, first African-American president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), told the Baptist Press Monday that this case was "an isolated incident from which pastors can learn" and is not indicative of the SBC's beliefs.

"We just have to be aware that the enemy will use anything he can to come against our churches and our ministries with something like this. And so we've always got to be aware that the enemy is out to kill, steal and destroy," Luter, who was elected to his position in June, told BP. more >>

Simply passing the collection plate during Sunday services in order to help meet the budget was not good enough for the leaders of a small church in Mississippi.

So two years ago, the pastor and leaders of Traceway Baptist Church in Clinton began to pray about how to better serve their community. After two months of praying and fasting, they decided they needed to take all of their congregation's tithes and offerings and give it to those in need for an entire year.

"At the end of 2009 our leadership was praying and trying to figure out how we could better represent Jesus Christ in our community," Pastor John Richardson told The Christian Post. "Essentially, our prayer was 'God, what can we do so that when people look at us they will see you?' more >>

The only abortion clinic left in the state of Mississippi is barely hanging onto life after a federal judge extended Wednesday a temporary order to block the state's new abortion law from taking effect.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan III ordered an indefinite injunction that allows Jackson Women's Health Organization, the only abortion clinic left in Mississippi, to keep its doors open while he examines documents by the Mississippi Department of Health on how the new law will be implemented.

The law was supposed to take effect on July 1, but Jordan had put an injunction in place. The law requires doctors performing abortions to be OB-GYNs and to have privileges at a local hospital. Jackson Women's Health Organization mostly has doctors from other states come to the clinic to perform abortions, making it difficult for its out-of-state doctors to obtain privileges at local hospitals. more >>