Georgia pastor Javier Chavez and university provost Nathan Finn will be nominated for recording secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention during the SBC’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California, June 14–15.
Chavez, pastor of Amistad Cristiana Church, Gainesville, and Finn, provost at North Greenville University, will be seeking to fill the role that John Yeats has served in since 1997. Yeats announced March 7 that he would not seek re-election during this year’s SBC annual meeting. Yeats is executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention.
Chavez
Chavez has served as pastor of Amistad Cristiana Church since planting the church in 2016. He also is president of Amistad Cristiana International Inc., a missions ministry of the church that has partnered with other churches overseas. The ministry’s leadership team made the announcement March 30 to Baptist Press.
Born in Peru, Chavez is a professor of global studies at Truett-McConnell University. He served on the SBC Committee on Committees in 2018 and is currently a member of the Georgia Baptist Convention executive committee.
In 2019–2020, he served as second vice president of the GBC. Chavez was a candidate for second vice president during the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in Nashville, and he came in second in a runoff to Ramon Medina, pastor of Spanish ministries for Champion Forest Baptist Church, Houston. Chavez also is a member of the steering council for the Conservative Baptist Network.
Chavez graduated from Lee University and received a master’s degree in history from Wheaton College and his doctorate in intercultural studies from Biola University, according to his church website.
He and his wife, Noelia, have four children.
Finn
Finn will be nominated by Texas pastor Bart Barber, who also announced his plans to nominate Finn on March 30.
“Nathan is highly qualified to serve Southern Baptists. He has worked to achieve expertise in the history of our convention,” Barber said in his statement to Baptist Press. “Nathan is not merely a chronicler and student of our convention; he is also engaged in the present work of our family of churches. Last year he was the vice chairman of the Committee on Resolutions. While holding teaching positions at Union University, SEBTS, and presently at North Greenville University, he has preached and taught in churches throughout our convention.”
In addition to his service on the 2021 Committee on Resolutions, Finn has served on the Historical Committee for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, as a member of the board of directors of the Biblical Recorder for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and is currently serving as an adviser to the SBC Executive Committee Resolutions Task Force.
Prior to serving as provost of NGU, Finn served as dean of the School of Theology and Missions and professor of theological studies at Union University, from 2015-2018 and taught church history at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2007 to 2015. He has contributed to and authored several books and academic works including The Baptist Story and Historical Theology for the Church.
Finn holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Brewton-Parker College and received has master of divinity and doctorate from Southeastern Seminary.
Finn and his wife, Leah, are members of Mountain Creek Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C. They have four children.
Role of the recording secretary
The recording secretary duties include overseeing the recording of SBC proceedings. This person is also responsible for training volunteers for convention business sessions, the final edit of the SBC Book of Reports and the SBC Annual. The recording secretary serves as an ex officio member of the SBC Executive Committee.
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