NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President J.D. Greear says he is urging search committees to keep racial diversity in mind as they seek new leadership for several top vacancies, including the presidents of two seminaries, LifeWay Christian Resources and the SBC Executive Committee (EC).
In an interview with Religion News Service, Greear noted that he does not have direct control over the selection of the new leaders. But he said he has not “received resistance from any of the search committees that [he’s] talked to.”
In January three prominent pastors inquired in a letter to the EC presidential search committee whether any minority candidates had been interviewed for the position. James Merritt, Bryant Wright and Vance Pitman asked, “If not, we respectfully ask why not?” The search committee declined to respond, Merritt said.
In 2015, Southern Baptists passed a statement urging “Southern Baptist entities and Convention committees to make leadership appointments that reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the body of Christ and of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
Dhati Lewis, the sole African-American vice president at the SBC’s North American Mission Board, said he is not optimistic about diversity being accomplished soon in the top ranks, though he believes it should occur.
“They’re going to choose people that they trust,” he said of selection committees. “And when your relationships aren’t diverse it’s hard to find people that you can trust that don’t look like you, talk like you and act like you.” (RNS)
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