Alabama Baptist State Convention (ABSC) President Jimmy Jackson will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at the June annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
“I’ve been encouraged to be a candidate for the Southern Baptist Convention president,” he said. “As we move forward as a state convention and the Southern Baptist Convention to reach the world for Jesus Christ, I would like to be a part of that.
“As I’ve prayed about the opportunity, I have a peace about it and have consented to be nominated.”
Jackson has been pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, for 31 years and has served as ABSC president for the past two years. He was the SBC’s first vice president for 2006–07 and has been an assistant parliamentarian at the SBC’s annual meetings for nearly 25 years.
Information from the 2009 Annual Church Profile (ACP) for Whitesburg Baptist lists 163 baptisms and primary worship service attendance of 1,556. The church gave $295,748, or 4.65 percent, through the Cooperative Program (CP) from total undesignated receipts of $6,364,921. According to the ACP, the church also received $236,735 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $138,548 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
Under Jackson’s leadership, Whitesburg has grown from less than 3,000 members in 1978 to more than 7,000 today.
And nearly 6,000 baptisms have taken place at the church since he became pastor.
But pinning down those numbers just by talking to him is pretty difficult to do, said several Whitesburg members. That’s because he’s never let the numbers become more important than the people they represent.
“One thing about Brother Jimmy is that he’s never cared about the numbers,” said Karen Tidwell, his executive assistant for the past six years and a church member for more than 30 years. It’s always been about the people.
In fact, the names of the people who make up Whitesburg have been on Jackson’s lips every day of all his years there. One of his first requests as pastor was for a list of members so that he could pray for each one by name every week. That’s a practice he’s continued for 31 years, and he credits God’s response to those prayers as an underlying source of strength for the church.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, described Jackson as “a statesmanlike figure in Alabama Baptist life.”
“Jimmy has strong leadership qualities and has remained consistent through the challenges of more than 30 years as pastor of one church,” he added.
And Jackson will be the first sitting state convention president from Alabama to be nominated for SBC president.
If elected, Jackson would be the second Alabama Baptist pastor to serve as SBC president. Jonathan Haralson was the first to fill that role (1889–1898).
Jackson holds a divinity degree and doctorate in Hebrew and Old Testament from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a native of Greenwood, Miss., and a graduate of Mississippi College in Clinton.
He also served on the SBC Executive Committee for eight years and is currently a trustee for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
In Alabama, Jackson served as first vice president of the state convention and second vice president of the state convention before being elected president.
He and his wife, Bobbi, have three children (one deceased) and six grandchildren. They will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this June.
Jackson is the second nominee for SBC president, joining Bryant Wright, senior pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Marietta, Ga.
In a Baptist Press story, Johnson Ferry Baptist’s CP giving was reported as 2.5 percent, but the church reports it gives 3.5 percent through the CP. (TAB)
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