Alabama native Bobby Welch, known for his enthusiastic zeal for evangelism, won the first contested Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) presidential election in a decade June 15.
He defeated North Carolina pastor Al Jarrell, 3,997 to 1,020, or 79.6 percent to 20.4 percent.
Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., succeeds Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in suburban Dallas.
As one of his first duties as president, Welch pledged to go to great lengths — literally — to encourage the SBC to baptize a million people each year.
Late this summer, Welch will embark on a 25-day bus tour to all 50 states, he announced. He will urge grassroots Southern Baptists and their leaders to do more to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ and to bring about a transformation in the nation’s largest Protestant convention.
The bus-a-thon will be part of a multifaceted effort to reverse the SBC’s decline, he said.
Welch, 61, gained SBC fame as a founder of the FAITH program, which incorporates an evangelistic emphasis into Sunday School. Launched at Welch’s church, FAITH has been marketed by LifeWay Christian Resources and widely replicated in Southern Baptist churches.
Welch will celebrate his 30th anniversary at the Daytona church in August.
Dan Ireland, executive director of Alabama Citizens Action Program, plans to be there.
Ireland was pastor of First Baptist Church, Fort Payne, when Welch came from the “shadows of death in Vietnam.”
A decorated veteran who received a Bronze Star for bravery and a Purple Heart for battle wounds, Welch was shot and nearly killed while in combat.
“Bobby is a miracle man,” Ireland said. “He always felt the Lord spared his life for special reasons.”
And Welch committed to serve the Lord from that point forward. Returning to his home in Fort Payne, Welch made his salvation of years earlier public and was baptized by Ireland.
He began working with the Royal Ambassadors (RAs) and the youth group at church. Before long he surrendered to a call to preach. Ireland licensed him to preach, ordained him to the ministry and mentored him through the process including helping him get settled at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
When Welch’s mother and brother gave their lives to the Lord at First, Fort Payne, Ireland encouraged Welch to baptize them. “The first person Bobby ever baptized was his mother,” Ireland said. “He will never forget that.”
Ireland believes Welch is the right man for president of the SBC.
“I have great pride in Bobby,” Ireland said. “In the ministry, pastors are fortunate along the way to have trophies. Bobby is one of mine. I have great pride in thinking that I may have had a little part in how he is being used by the Lord.
“He is his own man. What you see is what you get,” Ireland said. “He will be president of all Baptists. … He is eager for the church to measure full stature in what God wants it to be.
“Bobby came up the hard way,” Ireland explained. “He was from a family that didn’t have a lot, but he had determination to be his best. He wants to do a lot.”
With that determination and “a lot of charisma,” Welch is someone “we can identify with if we are interested in winning people to Christ,” Ireland said.
He has served as president of the Florida Baptist Convention and vice president of the SBC. He also has been a trustee of LifeWay Christian Resources.
Welch is a graduate of Jacksonville (Ala.) State University (where he also played football) and New Orleans Seminary.
He and his wife, Maudellen, have two children and four grandchildren.
Messengers also elected Gerald Davidson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Arnold, Mo., as first vice president.
David Hwan Gill, pastor of Concord Hill Korean Baptist Church in Martinez, Calif., was elected second vice president.
Share with others: