The Community Files

He had a lot on his mind as the Reverend Bubba Newcomb made his way East on Highway 24, towards McComb, Mississippi Monday morning. He had been born James Henry Newcomb, but ever since anyone could remember, everyone had known him as “Bubba”. He had come a long way over the years. Born and raised in the East Fork community of Eastern Amite County, even after becoming the pastor at Second Baptist Church of McComb, he had chosen to live in East Fork. He felt like the more rural “country life” helped him stay grounded. And the twenty-minute drive to the church every day gave him time to pray and think. Today, he was thinking about the rising crime in McComb and how his church needed to respond. Over the past ten years, McComb had unfortunately seen a sharp rise in drug activity and the violent crime that often accompanied it. As a major crossroads along Interstate 55 coming North out of New Orleans, Louisiana, and South out of Jackson, Mississippi, a lot of the drug trade from both cities had moved into the area. Unfortunately, the rural areas around McComb gave the drug labs plenty of places to set up. And the Interstate, along with the other major highways that intersected in McComb, made it an ideal distribution hub. “This is a good town, Lord,” he prayed, “and good people. But, as more and more of the good people get tired of the violence and move away, the area is changing.” Rev. Newcomb’s church had lost ten to fifteen families in the past year. And other churches were experiencing the same issue. “I can’t blame the people for leaving, Lord,” he continued. “They just don’t feel safe anymore. But how can the church help?” Over the years, Second Baptist had tried to reach out to the community with drug intervention programs, housing assistance programs, and free tutoring programs. But those things required money. And as more and more people who gave moved away, money was getting harder to find. Pulling into the parking lot of the church on West Delaware Drive, he saw two police cars and his Youth and College Minister, Daniel Deere, talking with Rev. Newcomb’s old friend Captain Campbel. “Someone broke into the church last night,” Daniel said as Rev. Newcomb walked up. “They took some of the sound equipment and messed the office area up. I discovered the back door broken open when I arrived about an hour ago.” “Apparently, they were looking for money,” said Captain Ken Campbell. “But as best we can tell, all they took was the soundboard and a couple speakers. Stuff they could sell easily.” Captain Campbell and Rev. Newcomb had known each other all their lives. After graduating high school together in nearby Liberty, Mississippi, they had both attended Southwest Community College in Summit, Mississippi. But after Community College, their lives had taken different directions. While Bubba Newcomb had gone into the ministry, Ken Campbell had gone to work for the McComb Police Department. Now, over forty years later, Rev. Newcomb was the paster of Second Baptist Church, and Campbell had worked his way up to Captain. But they had remained close friends. When Captain Campbell heard the call come over the radio that Second Baptist had suffered a break-in, he had responded immediately.