Cathy Clark | For the Lord and for the Law

One statistic can stop you cold: one in four Mississippi children lives in poverty, and one in five faces food insecurity. That’s the reality Cathy Clark chose not to look away from. Teacher. Advocate. Pastor’s wife. Law student. She planted both feet in hard soil and decided to move.

In this episode, Cathy shares her Hattiesburg roots, the ministry that taught her how to sit with pain, and the moment that redirected her future. In 2021, a family friend was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life without parole. With no legal training, Cathy and a small circle of believers organized through Zoom and Facebook, combed through records in a church study room, and uncovered the truth: jurors had lied during voir dire. The result? A new trial. A change of venue. An acquittal. A restored career. A restored future. It’s a rare look at what happens when community, courage, and careful attention to facts intersect with faith.

That case changed her trajectory. Now pursuing a law degree, Cathy sees the courtroom as a place for both clarity and compassion. She speaks candidly about family law, the emotional storms clients carry, and the responsibility of wise counsel to steady people when their lives feel unmoored. As a nontraditional pastor’s wife on the front lines, she embodies service that doesn’t end when the verdict is read.

We widen the lens to Mississippi’s broader challenges—poverty, hunger, mental health—and offer practical ways to engage: connect families to resources, advocate for thoughtful legislation, and show up consistently for someone who feels alone.

If you care about justice reform, faith in action, or practical hope for hard places, this conversation will challenge and encourage you. Listen. Share it with someone who needs courage. Leave a review to help others find these stories.

And then ask yourself: what baton will you carry next?

Join us for new episodes on the 1st and 15th of each month as we continue sharing stories of transformation from across Mississippi. Each story reminds us that when we contribute our unique gifts, Mississippi rises together.

Hope Mississippi's Mission: The sobering reality remains: one in four Mississippi children lives in poverty, and one in five experiences food insecurity. These statistics aren't just numbers—they're our collective challenge. Through these conversations, we discover that Mississippi's transformation occurs through individual commitments to mentor, encourage, and be present for others. The small acts of hope accumulate into the broader "miracles" we celebrate.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

One in four kids live in poverty.

Meet Kathy Clark

SPEAKER_01 0:16

One in five are food deprived. Build collaborations and build hope with those who are struggling. Hope, Mississippi. Hello, and welcome to another episode of Hope, Mississippi. Hope you're having a great day. Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathy Clark. Hello, Kathy. Hello, Ms. Don. How are you? It's a great day.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Yes, it is. Tell me a little bit about yourself. As you stated, my name is Kathy Clark. My maiden name is Kathy Preston. I am originally from Hattersburg, Mississippi. That's where I currently reside with my family. Born and raised in Hattersburg, Mississippi. Attended the Hatterburg Public School District. I came up through the public school system. I have three adult children. I am married to Philip Clark. He is the pastor, Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, right here in Sumra, Mississippi. I'm really back at my old roots. This is where I got my learning on how to play the piano and how to do ministry between Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church and Antioch in Hattiesburg. That's my mom's home church. That's where I got my upbringing when it comes to the ministry and my spiritual walk and journey. We started early in my life.

From Teaching To Legal Advocacy

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Kathy, I remember my good friend Pat Lee, who's also a Preston, came by and told me about you. And if you live in the Summerall area, you know that the last name Preston just speaks volumes about the legacy that your family has. I remember Willie Preston being the police chief of Summerall for years and years and just was such a peacemaker. And I'm reminded that now you're in law school. Tell us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

I am an elementary education major. I graduated from William Carey University in 1999, and I taught here and there in the Hattersburg Public School District, some teaching in Lawrence County, but for the most part, I spent most of my educational experience here in Hattersburg, Mississippi. I had the opportunity to work on a major case in the state of Mississippi back in 2021. And even prior to that, I've always been an advocate. I've always wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. And so that started back in 2013. So God was just shaping me and sharpening me in the area of just being that person who didn't mind putting their boots on the ground. And so I decided to make a career change. In 2024, I enrolled in Faulkner University, there in Montgomery, Alabama. It's a part-time program. And so I have two more years to go. So I'm at my halfway mark. That's where I am right now. I'm in law school and making my journey.

The 2021 Wrongful Conviction

SPEAKER_01 3:04

And we're glad to have you at Beam Law Firm, and we know that you've got a bright future. Let's talk about the case that you worked on. And was it 2021 that you worked on that? Tell us about that. Someone was exonerated, which is a huge win.

Grassroots “Dream Team” Mobilizes

SPEAKER_00 3:17

That is a huge win. A childhood friend of my daughter and a family friend of our family there in Hattersburg, Mississippi. She was convicted of murdering her stepdaughter and her husband. She was convicted. He was charged. The first trial ended on January the 29th, 2021, where she was found guilty, given life without parole. And so that was a horrible weekend. That weekend we cried. We knew she was innocent. By that Sunday, things turned around. I said, Y'all have two days to mourn and cry, but we got to get up and we got to roll with it. And so by Sunday, things started turning around. We wiped our tears and we started mobilizing. So myself, my daughter, her brother, and a few more of her friends, we teamed up. They called us the dream team. We didn't call ourselves that, but we were termed the dream team because we we did some major things in the absence of knowing about medical terminology, about case law. That was way before what I know now. But we just used the internet, we used Facebook, and we were able to discover that five of her jurors lied to a void border dyer. We uncovered that. And so she got a new trial. By September, she was home. She was locked away in January. By September, we had her home and got her a new trial, new venue. Her new trial was May 2026. She was acquitted and she's home free. She's received her nursing license again. She was a nurse, so she though those things were reinstated. It was a huge deal. It was huge. And that was May 2025. 2022. That she was acquitted. How did that make you feel? Well, during that time, it was scary. She was locked away, and we were her eyes, her hands, her mouthpiece, her everything. We started doing Zooms, letting the public know what we were uncovering. And I know that's probably against uh best policy and practice right now, but we were amateurs. We were doing what we thought was right to do. So we would do uh constant Zooms, maybe like once a month. We garnered support. We launched a page. Uh, I stand with Kia. We did events, we did fundraisers. I think the page now has about over 30,000 followers or more. In just a week's time, it picked up traction. And so it was, it was scary. We would meet in our church, in our little study room at our my husband's ministry, and we would go through documents, burn the Midnight All, just put in the work for it. When she got acquitted, it was a relief. The hard work paid off. And she had an awesome legal team, sweets and associates out of Jackson, Mississippi. They were her legal team, but we were there to support them with everything that we had at our disposal.

New Trial And Acquittal

SPEAKER_01 6:01

Well, how exciting! And to be able to change that child's life is truly amazing. I say child because it was your your child's friend, right? Yes, exactly. To me, if they're my child's friend, my child, I still call him baby, you know, and I know he's 30-something years old. That's it. How exciting. And then you go on and are studying law now. What does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 6:24

It actually means that if I am going to be that voice for the voiceless and be that fighter that so many people are not fortunate enough to have. Takea had, she had a team of people. She had family and friends. Everybody's story is not that story. You know, sometimes they're walking this journey alone. I made a commitment, even outside of that case, to make sure that I was there to stand with people who are hurting, who are oppressed, and who are just facing injustice. That case taught me a lot to really recognize that there are so many people who are walking this journey alone. And I want to be that attorney, that counselor who's able to be there with my client every step of the way, from the complaint to the end, whatever role I can play to make sure that I am that person, that I can empathize and just even outside the legal profession, just be human, be God's person in their life.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

I love that verse. God comforts us so that we can yet be comforters. Isn't that so true? That's wonderful. When we talk about helping the broken, to me, that's that that's what God called us to do. That's our ministry.

Calling To Law And Compassion

SPEAKER_00 7:38

That is. And I take it as a ministry. And I think I was sharing with another attorney, your son, Mr. Sam, a while ago, that this is ministry and God has called us to this work. Justice and righteousness, they're the foundation of who he is, and we are called to follow in his footsteps. And and he's near to the brokenhearted, so should we.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Today was your first day in court, right? It was. Y'all were helping some folks that were broken, and there's so much joy in being able to help step up. Yes. Tell me your thoughts on it.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

And I'm glad you mentioned that. When we were counseling with the client today, and I know that divorce and cases like that get emotional, and we have to make sure that we recognize that. So that opened my heart to see that it's just more than a business deal. We are there to help emotionally uh provide that support when families are going through hard decisions and hard times and challenges in their life. That's what we're called to do.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

I am reminded how important wise counsel is. When I have gone through the storm of life, it's really hard to think wise and to have somebody to walk beside you and be that wise counsel, that voice to help people understand the law and then connect the facts with that. At the end of the day, we want to be peacemakers, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

That's that's our goal, is to is to uh achieve their goal, whatever outcomes they are seeking. We go into it with that, but still knowing that even if we don't get that outcome, we still have to be supportive and empathetic and sympathetic to their situation. It never leaves. Even when uh the last document is filed and the the court has given their last judgment, we still have to have a care and concern about their future.

First Day In Court Reflections

SPEAKER_01 9:23

To me, that's one of the best things about practicing law is being able to help people get over that brokenness. And I love seeing them down the road and full of joy and appreciation for what we did, and that that's just so exciting. So I'm looking forward to you practicing law and all the great stories that you have to tell. Let's talk a little bit about you being the first lady of your church and the service of you and your husband.

Ministry As Daily Service

SPEAKER_00 9:49

And before I get to that, I just want to say thank you for trusting me with this opportunity to get hands-on experience. It's one thing to learn the law, know the law, but to be able to see it applied in action, that's a whole other level of learning and experience that a book cannot teach you. So thank you. Oh, we're glad to have you. Thank you for that opportunity. I married young when I was 20 and our third child. She's 33 now. Her husband was called into the ministry. So he's been in ministry about 33 years now. I always tell people that I didn't just wake up one day and say, hey, I want to be a pastor's wife. My husband wasn't even called to the ministry until after we got married. So I didn't go seeking for a pastor to marry. It just happened. Pastors' wives, you just can't make them. They are born. And I can tell as I reflect back on my life, my upbringing, my childhood, God was shaping and ordering my steps even then and my stops. A lot of people say God will order your steps. He will order your stops too. So some places and some things that he did not want me to walk into, he closed that door. Those open doors and closed doors, challenges in my life, that level of excellence and academic excellence that was instilled in me as a child. And so as I grew and I in my faith and I grew in God and in his grace, I can now see that that was just my path. And I'm not the traditional pastor's wife. Most pastors' wives are not on the front lines fighting. They're usually somewhere in a quiet corner. And that's the traditional pastor's wife. I don't knock that. That's their role, and it works well for their situation. But for my situation, what my husband needed in his life was somebody who was going to put their feet on the ground, on the front lines, and fight not only spiritually and our spiritual warfare, but just in warfare in general. I feel like God has put me in this place. Well, you're a good listener, I think.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

That part of being a good pastor's wife is being able to listen because in the church there's there's so many hurting people.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Again, that only coupled with my experience with counseling, with my alongside my husband, with with even couples who are going through challenging times in their marriage, a grieving family. We have learned to just share our heart and show our compassion to God's people. And so it's just a merging of the two. I get to do it for the Lord and for the law.

Nontraditional Pastor’s Wife On The Front Lines

SPEAKER_01 12:18

My ears perked up when you said you play the piano. I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Yes, I played the piano. My mom sort of forced me into taking piano lessons. And so I did that for a couple of years. Then I started learning by ear, and I play alongside my husband. When he needs me, we do have a pianist. My son is our keyboardist now, and so I only play for my husband. He prefers me over anybody, but I'm old school, I'm old-fashioned, I don't learn the new skills and things like that, but he doesn't want anybody but me. So when I have to play, I will play. I'm not gonna say that I'm an expert at it. Now, do you also sing in the church? Background. I sing in the choir. My husband and my children are the front runners when it comes to the singing. They are the leaders. I prefer to slide in the background.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

My last podcast was with Carlos Wilson. I don't know if you have Mr. Wilson. But he was telling me, you know, most black ministers they can sing. He could he couldn't sing. He's not a singer.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

He's often said that when when when my husband is in the audience, he would always call him up to coze us out or whatever with a song. So he's he's he can rock the pulpit, though.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

I will say that. He can he can get to going on something and uh just move the entire audience.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

He can. He has that gift.

Music, Gifts, And Service

SPEAKER_01 13:36

You know, isn't it funny how God gives us all gifts and expects us to use him for his glory?

SPEAKER_00 13:44

That's it. That's it. There's a scripture that talks about how we would be, how would the body be if of all of the body was an eye or an ear? We need the variety and the diversity in the body of Christ. My gift may not be your gift, your gift is not my gift, but it all works together for the common good of God's purpose and to move the kingdom forward as God see fit.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Amen. You know, when I think about the needs of Mississippi, this is hope, Mississippi, but the idea, one in four of our kids lives in poverty, one in five are food deprived. And God's plan is to use us and all of our talents to spread hope across Mississippi. Let's talk to those folks that may not be a piano player. Talk to them about the needs of Mississippi and how God can use them.

Poverty, Hunger, And Civic Action

SPEAKER_00 14:31

First of all, I want to say that everybody's gifts and talents are different. Again, as we spoke about, you know, everybody has a role to play. Some people are on the front lines, they're movers and shakers, and some people are legislative pushers, they're pushing legislation. Everybody has a role to play. Everybody has a hand to lend and to give to the issues that Mississippians face, not just our children, our families who are living in poverty, mental health-wise, there's so much that can be addressed in the state of Mississippi that we all can take a part in it. And so start small. You may not know everything. You don't have to know everything. You may be that person that points someone or some family in the right direction. We don't have to, you know, have the skills, but if we can think of it, all we have to do is voice it and hand it off to the next person. This is a relay race, and we're passing the baton and just be in line for when that baton is passed to you, you know how to pass it to somebody else. But we have to have a heart for God's people because he has a heart for the poor and the brokenhearted. So we're called to that duty. It's time to rise up. And when we all do that in partnership, Mississippi would be a better state. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

A grandmother that I had really influenced my life. Sometimes I think the elderly think, God can't use me. But I can tell you that woman spoke love and encouragement to me. And I have to believe some days she's just whispering in Jesus' ear to tell him, watch out for dawn. But who in your life has been that person to you?

Mentors, Friendship, And Support

SPEAKER_00 16:09

I have to say that there are several. I do have a friend. Her name is Sonia, and she's one of our former church members. Uh, most times, pastors' wives, we live in a glass house where everybody can see into our lives because we're on that platform. It's so open. And a lot of times we feel like we don't have a shoulder to lean on when it comes to the intimate parts of ministry that you just can't broadcast. Some things you have to sit on it and keep it to yourself. She is that person that I can go to. She's not going to just side with me because I'm the pastor's wife. She's going to give me the hardcore truth. But I can be open. I can be vulnerable around her with no judgment. She's my cheerleader. She, even with in during my first semester of law school, she allowed me to come into her home to study in private. So I wouldn't have to be disturbed by my family. She just made her home so welcome. And anytime my husband and I need a getaway, she lives right there in Jackson, Mississippi. We don't have to spend a whole lot of money. It's just gas to get there. Her room is always available. Her home is always available for us to just wind down, to be ourselves, let our hair down, and just be human people. She is that person for me on both sides in ministry and outside of ministry.

Family, Perseverance, And Hope

SPEAKER_01 17:29

That is wonderful. What a gift friends are. And I pray that I can be that kind of friend to other people because we all need that encouragement. And a lot of times it's just that little bit of encouragement that gets us to move on, to go to law school or to stretch our abilities to accomplish all that God would have us to be. Well, let's talk a little bit about your family.

Encouragement And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_00 17:51

You got three kids. Tell us a little bit about that. As I told you earlier, I married young and uh married when I was 20. My oldest son, he's 34, soon to be 35. And here's the funny part: I was sharing with Sam and Missy earlier. Right now I have two 34-year-olds who are not twins. I had them 11 months apart. Bless your heart. At the end of this week, I'll have two 35-year-olds. So they were 11 months apart. My husband and I, we hit the ground running. We had our children back to back. Thinking back when I was having the children, there were a few elderly ladies who would walk up to me and say, baby, just hang in there. It gets better. Every Sunday, they would see me and those little babies on their front row. I know they felt sorry for me, but they were always whispering my ear, it gets better. Just keep doing what you're doing. And they were right. It has gotten better. My children are doing well. They're in ministry with us, all three of them. In the music ministry, my son plays a keyboard. That's where our family is, right? Now we're in ministry together. We're serving together. They haven't walked away. They've seen the good, bad, and the ugly, but they have stuck it out with their dad and myself. My youngest daughter has a set of twin children. It's a boy and a girl, Joshua and Brayley. They're 14 years old right now. And so they're soon to be 15. But they're doing great. My middle daughter, she's married to Marco. Marco's smart is his name. That's my son-in-law. We just rocking and rolling ministries we know how, trying to be that family that's the example.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

As parents, we can help plant that seed of hope to help our kids to reach the potential that God has for them. I look at my kids now and I know I struggled as a mother. I I was a single mother for a lot of the time myself. I've certainly had people that encouraged along the way, like you said. And that's a gift in and of itself, the gift of encouragement. So you may think you are sitting on the sideline and that God doesn't have a plan for you, but we can all be encouragers of one another. And as we cheer one another on, we really will see hope rise in Mississippi. Kathy, thank you so much for joining me today. And I hope you've enjoyed our podcast today. And join us again. Do you have any final words, Kathy?

SPEAKER_00 20:12

I don't. I just want to say thank you again for having me on, and I look forward to doing this again. Thank you, and thank you.