The search committee tasked with finding the next executive director-treasurer for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSC) announced March 29 that Todd Unzicker is their recommended candidate.
The nine-member group said Unzicker is “uniquely gifted to lead North Carolina Baptists into the uncharted waters of the present and future generations.”
In a joint statement, committee members said they conducted multiple interviews and spent much time in prayer during the course of the eight-month search process.
“His leadership skills have been demonstrated on many levels and gained wide respect across the Southern Baptist Convention,” the statement said. “The committee is impressed with Todd’s people skills, administrative experience and his ability to relate to people of all ages and all cultures.”
The search committee plans to formally recommend Unzicker to lead North Carolina Baptists in a special called meeting of the board of directors on April 16, at Caraway Conference Center near Asheboro, North Carolina. The meeting was called by board president Matt Capps and BSC interim executive director-treasurer Brian Upshaw in accordance with state convention bylaws.
From there, the recommendation goes before messengers at the state convention annual meeting, and additional nominations may be made from the floor of the convention, according to state convention bylaws.
Background
Unzicker, a 44-year-old native of the Washington, D.C., area, is currently chief of staff at The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area, where he has worked closely with Summit’s lead pastor, J.D. Greear, during Greear’s tenure as president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Unzicker played a key role in mobilizing churches with recent SBC strategies such as the “Who’s Your One?” evangelism initiative, the “Go2” collegiate missions initiative and the “Caring Well” initiative to help churches prevent sex abuse and care for victims.
He has been involved in missions and ministry efforts through the Yates Baptist Association for several years. In 2020, he served on a “restart team” created to help review and re-envision the association’s ministry strategy.
Prior to his current role, Unzicker led The Summit’s missions and church planting efforts as pastor of sending and as a campus pastor. The Summit became the top missions-sending church in the SBC and the top Cooperative Program giving church in North Carolina during Unzicker’s tenure as pastor of sending.
Before joining The Summit staff in 2012, Unzicker was the director of missions at the Holmes Baptist Association in Bonifay, Florida, and served two years as a missionary in Central America.
Unzicker graduated from the Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, Florida, and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He and his wife Ashley live in Wake Forest. They have three children: Georgia, JD and Trey.
Prior to his salvation and call to ministry, Unzicker worked as a sports reporter, covering the nationally ranked University of Georgia football program. He says his life was “radically changed” by the grace of Jesus Christ.
“From the moment I first trusted Christ, the Holy Spirit began directing my steps in ways I could never imagine,” Unzicker said. “Within a year, I quit my dream job, sold my house and became a missionary and church planter overseas.”
Unzicker would succeed Milton A. Hollifield Jr., who announced his retirement in 2020 after 15 years as the convention’s top executive.
Excerpt from the original article that ran in North Carolina’s Biblical Recorder. To read the full story, click here.
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