Dr. Samuel Marshall Gore, currently an adjunct professor of art at Mississippi College, was featured at the National Association of Southern Baptist Secretaries (NASBS) meeting held April 23-26 in Greensboro, N.C. 

Gore’s “performance art sculpture” involved transforming about 70 pounds of clay into a bust of Christ in about 17 minutes.  His other inspirational depictions include the Madonna and Child, Christ the Healer and Jesus with the Children. 

Karen Prevatte summed up the worshipful experience of watching Gore sculpt -  “WOW!  I almost wanted to cry because I felt the presence of God.”

“God can do SO much when not a word is spoken.  I heard Him loud and clear.  Dr. Gore gives God all the glory.  He says his sculpting is his music to the Lord,” Murfi Lockhart said.

Phyllis Maier also experienced God’s presence during the sculpting.  “I knew that as he was sculpturing, I was in God's presence and that He was with us at that hotel.  It was a wonderful experience to witness Dr. Gore's talent in such a worshipful time.”

Another convention staff member, Beverly Mann, has a unique connection to Dr. Gore.  She is a former student of the art professor, who was also the former chair of the art department at Mississippi College. 

“Being a student of Dr. Gore's was a great privilege.  He's a wonderful teacher and to have been able to watch him work was a great experience.  As he would hold a lump of clay in his hand during class, he would tell us about mission trips to Mexico and ministering to the children there.  By the time he was finished telling his story, the lump of clay was transformed into a perfect animal of some sort; much like I imagined he would do when he would talk to the children in Mexico,” Beverly said.

 For more information about Dr. Gore and his ministry, you can go online to http://www.mc.edu/campus/users/gore/goremain.html. 

NASBS is an organization open to Southern Baptist ministry assistants across the country.  A national conference is held every other year.  Other convention staff ministry assistants who attended the conference were Pam Cashatt, Dianne Cockrell (who served as 2001-2003 president of NASBS), Beth Douglas, Gwen Eargle, Mary Ellen Gerzema, Patsy Hoard, Cora Mullinax and Allison Newman.