In a closed-door session June 14, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee (EC) voted 44–30 to elect Frank Page as its new president and chief executive officer.
Page, 57, vice president of evangelization at the North American Mission Board (NAMB) since October 2009, was pastor of First Baptist Church, Taylors, S.C., for eight years and SBC president from 2006 to 2008. He succeeds Morris Chapman, who will retire Sept. 30 after 18 years of service.
“This has been a soul-searching time for all of us,” said Randall James, assistant pastor of First Baptist Church, Orlando, Fla., and chairman of the EC. “We didn’t want to pick who we wanted but who the Lord Jesus Christ had already chosen before the foundation of the world.”
“I deeply appreciate this call — and that’s the way I perceive it and have felt it in my heart from the Lord — and I do accept your offer,” Page told the EC after it emerged from more than 90 minutes of deliberation to announce his election. “I do so with a great sense of calling and destiny [and] awareness that God has a great future for Southern Baptists.”
Page pledged two things to the committee: “I will love you with all my heart and will work with all my might.”
He suggested making a “spiritual covenant together” in order to be “unified in our passion and in our hearts to see this world won to Jesus Christ.”
James announced Page will serve alongside Chapman as president-elect until Oct. 1.
Standing outside the meeting room while EC members were praying before their vote, Page described as cordial the lengthy question-and-answer session with committee members.
Committee members asked “substantive questions” about his participation in the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) Task Force over the past year and his views on various items in the group’s recommendations to SBC messengers, Page said.
The task force was charged with making recommendations for ways the SBC could carry out the Great Commission more effectively.
“I have been very clear that I did have some concerns about the GCR items,” Page said. “But I do want to join our president in a call for a Great Commission Resurgence” across the convention.
While some committee members viewed his involvement with the task force negatively, Page said, “Others were concerned I didn’t support it enough.”
Page expressed the need to highlight the importance of Cooperative Program (CP) giving to Southern Baptist missions efforts. “I’m a strong CP supporter,” Page said. “While a lot of people talk about the Cooperative Program, I’ve been raising millions through it because I do believe in it.”
At a press conference following his introduction to SBC messengers at the annual meeting in Orlando on June 15, Page noted the diverse opinions currently characterizing the convention were reflected in the divided vote on his election.
“It’s indicative of the reality of where we are,” he said. “Trust takes place over time. I (will) work hard to build unity in that body.”
Page said he has two hopes for his service to the convention: unity “unlike anything we’ve ever seen before” and a positive public perception of Southern Baptists.
“Southern Baptists have long been known for what we are against,” Page stated. “The vast, vast majority of people in our convention are men and women who are loving and caring.” (Editor’s Network)
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