Several candidates have announced plans to be nominated for leadership roles at the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Anaheim, June 14–15.
The SBC Constitution calls for an annual election of a president, a first and a second vice president, a recording secretary, a registration secretary and a treasurer.
Here’s a summary of the responsibilities of each role and a brief bio of candidates announced so far. It’s important to note that any registered messenger can also make a nomination from the floor for each office when the nominations process opens for each position.
President
The responsibilities of the SBC president include presiding over the annual meeting; serving on a number of boards and committees by virtue of the position, including the Executive Committee; and appointing groups to serve at the annual meeting, specifically the Committee on Committees, a Committee on Resolutions, a Credentials Committee, a group of tellers and a team of convention parliamentarians.
Three candidates have announced intentions to be nominated for SBC president: Tom Ascol, Bart Barber and Robin Hadaway.
First and second vice presidents
Messengers will elect a first vice president and second vice president. The SBC Constitution gives no specific guidelines about the responsibilities of these roles, though the vice presidents automatically succeed to the office of president in the order of their election in case of death or disability of the president.
Chayasirisobhon will be nominated for first vice president.
Chayasirisobhon is pastor of First Southern Baptist Church Anaheim, where he has served since 2005. He is also president of the California Southern Baptist Convention, Chayasirisobhon and director of missions for Orange County Southern Baptist Association.
He will be nominated by Abel Galvan, pastor of Faith Fellowship in La Palma, California.
Sands will be nominated for second vice president.
Sands is pastor and founder of Kingdom Life Church in Simpsonville, South Carolina, and was the first African American to lead the South Carolina Baptist Convention when he served as president in 2021. He has served in the Greenville Baptist Association and on several state boards.
He will be nominated by Josh Powell, pastor of Taylors First Baptist in Taylors, South Carolina.
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. There are three announced candidates: Javier Chavez, Nathan Finn and David Roach.
Chavez is pastor of Amistad Cristiana Church, Gainesville, Georgia, and has served there 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.
Born in Peru, Chavez is a visiting 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.
An announcement on who will present Chavez’s nomination hasn’t been made.
Finn is provost at North Greenville University. He has served in several leadership roles in SBC life, including vice chairman of the Committee on Resolutions in 2021. He also has served on the Historical Committee and as a member of the board of directors of the Biblical Recorder, both for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Finn is currently serving as an adviser to the SBC Executive Committee Resolutions Task Force.
He previously held teaching and administrative positions at Union University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Among the books Finn has either authored or contributed to are “The Baptist Story” and “Historical Theology for the Church.”
David Sons, pastor of Lake Murray Baptist Church in Lexington, South Carolina, and member of the SBC Executive Committee, plans to nominate Finn.
Roach is pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Saraland. Previously, he served with Baptist Press and has taught for three SBC seminaries (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) and two Southern Baptist colleges (Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, and Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina). Additionally, Roach assisted 13 SBC Resolutions Committees between 1999-2013.
Roach was pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Kentucky, for seven years, where he served on the Kentucky Baptist Convention Mission Board and Committee on Nominations in addition to service through the local Shelby Baptist Association.
Mark Snowden, director of missional leadership for the Cincinnati Area Baptist Association in Ohio, plans to nominate Roach.
Registration secretary
The registration secretary reports the number of registered messengers, supervises tellers in the tabulation of votes and announces election and voting results to the convention.
Currence will be nominated for registration secretary, a role he held in 2018 and 2019.
Currence has served as the administrative pastor for First Baptist Church Ozark, Missouri, since 1993. Currence assisted longtime registration secretary Jim Wells before being elected to the position. He served as acting registration secretary in 2021 after Kathy Litton, who had been elected to the position, stepped down when her husband, Ed, announced he would be nominated — and was later elected — for SBC president.
Currence previously served at FBC Houston, Missouri, and two other churches in Louisiana, according to his church’s website. He also has served in various Baptist leadership roles in Missouri and Louisiana, which has included serving as a trustee for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Amy Whitfield, executive director of communications at The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, will nominate Currence.
Treasurer
The president of the Executive Committee serves as treasurer of the convention. This is not a position that is elected each year.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Information on the responsibilities of these SBC roles is adapted from “SBC FAQs: A Ready Reference” by Keith Harper and Amy Whitfield. These are the announced candidates as of May 26. Others can be nominated until time for the election at the annual meeting June 14–15 in Anaheim.
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