Leo A. Endel, executive director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention (MWBC), will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at the June 15–16 annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Endel is the fourth nominee to be announced and the only candidate who does not reside in the South.
Although he initially dismissed the idea of running, Endel finally consented to it after much prayer and urging of others.
“What concerns many in this part of the upper Midwest (is that) there needs to be a new work perspective brought into the conversation,” Endel told The Christian Index. “Not anti- or pro-GCR (Great Commission Resurgence), but we need some leadership out of the new work area, (and I) felt I could bring that to the table.”
Endel, who has served in his current position for eight years, said MWBC “enthusiastically” approved the decision to nominate him for president May 8.
Born in Tampa, Endel moved with his parents to Alaska shortly after and grew up in “Home Mission Board territory.”
“We were always part of new work areas where Southern Baptists were planting new churches,” Endel said.
Before coming on board with the MWBC, Endel served as pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church, Sioux City, Iowa, for 11 years. The church gave $4,098, or about 5 percent of undesignated receipts, to the Cooperative Program his first year there and $41,908, or about 12 percent of undesignated gifts, the last year he served as pastor, according to information from the SBC’s Annual Church Profile.
Endel joins Jimmy Jackson, Ted Traylor and Bryant Wright in the SBC president’s race. (TAB)
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