32 Years In One Pulpit: Bain Prepares To Step Away
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Dr. Randy Bain reflects at his desk at First Baptist Church in Water Valley ahead of his retirement after more than four decades of ministry.
WATER VALLEY — After more than 160 years of history and a tradition of long-serving pastors, First Baptist Church of Water Valley is preparing to close one of its longest chapters.
Dr. Randy Bain, who has served as pastor for 32 years, will retire May 3, stepping away from a role he has never viewed as a job.
“It’s not a job,” Bain explained. “It’s my whole life.”
A retirement reception honoring Bain is scheduled for Sunday, May 3, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the church fellowship hall.
Even as the church prepares to recognize his years of service, Bain shifts the focus.
“I don’t want this to be about me,” he said about the ministry at First Baptist. “It’s always about Him.”
That perspective has shaped his ministry from the beginning. Growing up as the son and grandson of pastors, Bain said the calling had to be personal.
“If your mama called you to preach, you’re not going to make it,” he said. “But if God calls you, you can’t do anything else.”
He still describes that calling in simple terms — a conviction that has never left him.
“The word of God is like a fire burning in my heart,” Bain said.
That conviction led him to Water Valley in December 1993 after 14 years at First Baptist Church in Abbeville. What followed, Bain adds, is something he was allowed to be part of.
“Early in my ministry I asked the Lord to let me stay somewhere and invest my life,” Bain said. “And He answered that prayer.”
“These are my people,” he said. “This is my home.”
Through the years, Bain said his approach has remained steady, grounded in both faith and discipline.
“I know it’s all God,” Bain said. “Everything we do here in this church … it’s all about Jesus.”
A ‘Nobody Telling Everybody About Somebody’
Humility is a thread that runs throughout his ministry.
“I’m not anything special,” he said. “I’m just a nobody telling everybody about somebody.”
That “somebody,” he said, is Jesus Christ — the center of both his message and his work.
“The power of the gospel is to transform the human heart,” Bain said. “And when the heart is changed, the life is changed.”
He explains it the same way to people who come to him for help.
“I tell people all the time, I can’t help you,” he said. “But I know somebody who can.”
That transformation, he said, is not something people can achieve on their own.
“We may can clean ourselves up a little bit,” he said. “But we can’t transform ourselves. God does that.”
Through the years, he has seen that change happen time and again — moments that remain among the most meaningful of his ministry.
“To see someone come to faith in Christ and see the difference that God has made in their lives, that’s one of the greatest blessings of my life,” Bain said.
His preaching has reflected that same focus.
“I’m an expository preacher,” he said. “I preach through the Bible. I don’t skip anything.”
“If you feed the church healthy spiritual food, it’ll grow and become strong,” Bain said.
That consistency, he said, helped build a church able to withstand challenges.
“We’ve had many, many issues over the years,” Bain said. “But none of them ever divided us. Storms come, and we just weather them.”
But behind that steady presence is a burden that does not go away.
“It’s 24/7,” Bain said. “I carry the burden of the church with me wherever I go.”
That weight is felt most in times of loss, particularly with unexpected deaths.
Recent losses in the church, including Zandra Walker, Frank Brooks and Larry Carr, have left a lasting impact, and Bain said the burden has not changed, but the toll it takes has.
“Those are hard,” he said. “And as I get older, it takes longer to recover. I was emotionally exhausted for days.”
Even then, the responsibility remains.
“I’ve got to stand up and say the words people need to hear,” Bain said.
In those moments, he leans on his faith.
“The Lord is my strength and my refuge in times of storm,” he said. “He’s never let me down.”
While Bain avoids pointing to accomplishments, his tenure places him within a long line of pastors who have shaped the church over generations.
Organized around 1860, the church began as a small group of believers meeting without a formal building and grew steadily through hardship and change.
Bain became part of that tradition, though he describes it simply.
“I just stayed where the Lord put me,” he said.
When he arrived in 1993, the church was using cassette tapes to share sermons. Today, services are streamed and archived online, reaching listeners far beyond Water Valley.
“We used to make little tapes,” Bain said. “Now … if you want to listen to a sermon, just go to the website.”
Still, he said, the mission has not changed.
“When we come to worship, it is all about Jesus,” Bain said. “We don’t do anything else.”
Beyond the pulpit, Bain and his wife, Lecia, raised their two sons, Brett and Ryan, in Water Valley. Both attended local schools from kindergarten through graduation.
“It’s a good, small community,” he said. “I was honored to raise my children here.”
That connection — between church, school and community — is part of what kept him here.
“The Lord just gave me an affinity for a small town,” Bain said. “I love it.”
As retirement from full-time ministry approaches, Bain admits the transition brings mixed emotions.
“I’m excited about it, and I’m scared to death at the same time,” he said.
He plans to travel, fish and spend more time with family. His first trip will be to Baton Rouge to visit his 89-year-old mother on Mother’s Day — something he has not been able to do in decades.
“That’s the first thing I’m going to do,” he said.
Even in retirement, he does not see his work as finished.
“I still have the call to preach,” Bain said. “I believe the Lord’s not through with me.”
He hopes to continue helping churches in the area as needed.
“I believe in the years to come, while I still have my health, I’ll be able to help people in churches, go and preach, maybe fill in or serve as an interim,” he said. “If you need me, I’ll be there.”
