Lining up buses outside the Montgomery Civic Center might be a little more visible but drive-in votes are nothing new for Alabama Baptists according to John Killian, pastor of Maytown Baptist Church, Maytown, and moderator of Southern Baptist Conservatives of Alabama (SBCOA).
In an interview following the Nov. 14–15 annual meeting in Montgomery, Killian said he and a few others “got together (to) … do our best to get people to Montgomery.” The result was a large percentage of the 212 messengers who registered Wednesday morning represented SBCOA concerns.
However, Killian said encouraging pastors to stay for the Wednesday morning business session was more important than the busing effort. Still, Killian contended, this year’s efforts were far smaller than a decade ago when a statewide organization had area captains responsible for getting out the vote for certain convention presidential candidates. He also charged moderate Baptists had promoted slates of candidates and “get out the vote” efforts in years past.
“What we are doing is not immoral or unethical,” Killian explained. “We are asking grassroots conservative Alabama Baptists to let their voices be heard.”
When asked if their efforts made a difference in the just completed annual meeting, Killian responded with an enthusiastic “absolutely.”
He pointed to the election of Joe Godfrey as first vice president. Godfrey defeated Tom Whatley of Muscle Shoals by 29 votes. Godfrey’s candidacy had been promoted at the SBCOA luncheon during the Pastors Conference the day before the annual meeting began.
Killian said the group’s candidate for second vice president, Larry Felkins, director of missions for Chilton Association, did not win but that “conservatives are happy with all our officers.” He said the new officers are “compatible with the concerns and interests of conservative Alabama Baptists.”
Killian said if it were not for groups like his encouraging people to attend the annual meeting of the state convention, the annual meeting would be dominated by people with “vested interest.” (TAB)
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