A love of writing as a teenager sparked a passion and calling which has lasted a lifetime for Baptist communicator Margaret Dempsey Colson.
Though she vows to “never stop writing,” Colson officially retired in April after a distinguished 46-year career in Southern Baptist communications.
Colson recalled reading the former Southern Baptist Home Missions magazine (which became Missions USA in 1981) when the publication arrived at her home. “It was incredible. I saw the power of words and photographs and how they come together to tell stories of how God is working in the world.
“That’s when I began to sense a call to Christian communications, letting God use what I think had been my gift since I was a teenager to embrace that calling and use my gifts to serve Him,” she said.
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Colson went to the University of Georgia where she majored in journalism with the intent of working at a daily newspaper, but God had other plans. While at the university she worked as a summer missionary for two years in New Mexico with the Home Mission Board. After graduation she took a communications position with the HMB in Atlanta.
Colson remained with the SBC-affiliated entity until 1992 when she established Dempsey Communications to spend more time with her children. “That became a real blessing to me through the years to spend more time with my family while still using my gifts and skills,” she said.
Though she served a variety of clients, Southern Baptist organizations provided her with a lot of business because of the contacts she had made at HMB. In the early 2000s, she served as interim editor of The Illinois Baptist, her first experience with Baptist state papers.
During her career, she also served as writer/content editor with Arkansas Baptist News, 2017–2019; special assignments editor with TAB Media Group (which includes The Alabama Baptist and The Baptist Paper), 2019–2022; and consulting communications editor with the Florida Baptist Convention, 2022–2025.
Her love and appreciation for Baptist papers developed during her teenage years. Her family also received Georgia’s The Christian Index. “As a teenager I loved anything written so when the Index came into our home I would sit down and read it page by page.” Colson acknowledged that may have been “weird” for a teenager to do but it helped launch her love for state papers. And, though she never worked for the Index in an official capacity, she did write articles for the Index over the years along with other state papers.
Beyond state conventions and state papers, Colson also has written for Southern Baptist national entities, including Lifeway Christian Resources, the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board and Baptist Press.
As a business owner, Colson became adept with organizational and leadership skills in addition to her communication and writing talents. In 2008, she stepped into the executive director role of Baptist Communicators Association. Eleven years later she was hired as executive secretary for the Association of State Baptist Publications. With both groups, Colson worked with officers and members of these professional affiliation groups to plan and execute vision-driven strategies that support the mission of the organizations.
In 2023–24, members of both BCA and ASBP voted to merge the two associations. Noting that each organization had its own distinguished heritage, Colson said she thinks the two organizations are now “stronger together and in a great position to move forward in resourcing Baptist communicators in new and creative ways.”
During the two organizations first joint meeting in April 2026, Colson announced her retirement, but with a caveat. She told the communicators, “I look at this time in my life not so much as a retirement but as a transition. I’m closing one chapter while a new chapter is opening, and the page is turning.”
‘There’s a future story to be told’
Known for her focus on punctuation, Colson said she sees her transition as a semicolon, not a period. “That means the past doesn’t tell our whole story. There’s a future story to be told. We don’t know what the story will be, but I can’t wait to find out because there are so many opportunities ahead.”
Colson has always seen her career as a ministry and a calling based on Psalm 107 which encourages the redeemed of the Lord to tell their stories.
“Redemption stories are incredible ways to draw other people to Jesus,” she observed. “Whether it’s my redemption story or a redemption story of someone I’ve interviewed through the years about how God has worked in them and through them, it’s a powerful way that God has given us and that Jesus modeled for us.”
‘I’ll always be a writer’
As she transitions to a new phase of her life, Colson plans to spend time with her family which includes her husband, Keith, and their children and 10 grandchildren, and to continue to be true to her calling. “I’ll always be a writer, always,” she stressed. “I’m going to continue to lean into that calling and walk in a way that honors God.”
Colson offers tips for communicators
Forty-six years as a communications professional gives Margaret Colson a unique perspective on the profession.
Colson announced her retirement (transition) plans in April during her final meeting as executive director of the Baptist Communicators Association which merged recently with the Association of State Baptist Publications.
In an interview with The Baptist Paper, Colson offered some suggestions for Baptist communicators.
- Embrace your call.
- Continue to learn and grow throughout your career. “That has been one of BCA’s purposes. We have tried to help our members grow as communicators and try new means of communication.”
- Surround yourself with other communicators. That has been another purpose of BCA, she noted. “We can encourage and inspire each other.”
- Invest in others. Colson shared that when she joined the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board she was mentored by an older communications professional. “He invested in me and now it’s our turn to invest in others who are coming along.”
- Enjoy the journey. There will be ups and downs and pluses and minuses, she cautioned. “But enjoy the journey because that is what it is. Some days you might want to toss your computer out the window, but the next day you will experience the joy in what you are doing.”
