Baptist Press
New SBC officers include (left to right) recording secretary Nathan Finn, second vice president Alex Sands, president Bart Barber, first vice president Victor Chayasirisobhon and registration secretary Don Currence. — Photo by Adam Covington / Baptist Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. — In addition to new president Bart Barber of Texas (see story HERE), Southern Baptists elected a new slate of other officers, including the first new recording secretary in 25 years.
Victor Chayasirisobhon, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Anaheim, Calif., and president of the California Southern Baptist Convention, was elected first vice president.
Of the 3,413 ballots cast, Chayasirisobhon received 1,711 votes (50.13 percent) and Brad Eubank, senior pastor of Petal First Baptist Church in Petal, Miss. received 1,685 votes (49.37 percent). Seventeen votes were disallowed.
Alex Sands, senior pastor and planter of Kingdom Life Church in Simpsonville, S.C., was elected SBC second vice president in a runoff against Michigan pastor Rodolfo Diaz-Pons.
Of the 3,552 ballots cast, Sands received 2,121 votes (59.71 percent) while Diaz-Pons, senior pastor of Riverbend Baptist Church in St. Louis, Mich., received 1,426 (40.15 percent).
In the initial round, Sands received most of the 3,758 ballots, with 1,689 votes (44.94 percent) in a three-way contest. Diaz received 1,030 votes (27.41 percent), while 1,029 ballots (27.38 percent) were cast for Ryan Fullerton, lead pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. Ten were disallowed.
Nathan Finn, provost at North Greenville University, was elected SBC Recording Secretary, a position that has not changed hands in 25 years. John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, has been elected to the position unopposed 22 of the last 25 years. He opted not to seek reelection in 2022.
Of the 5,315 ballots cast, Finn received 2,727 votes (51.31 percent), Javier Chavez, pastor of Amistad Cristiana Church in Gainesville, Ga., received 1,836 votes (34.54 percent) and David Roach, senior pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Saraland, Ala., received 741 votes (13.94 percent). Eleven votes were disallowed.
Don Currence, administrative pastor at First Baptist Church in Ozark, Mo., was elected SBC Registration Secretary by acclamation.
In related actions, Todd Unzicker, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, was selected as the 2023 SBC annual meeting convention speaker with Jim Shaddix, professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., serving as alternate.
James Cheesman, associate pastor and worship leader at FBC Farmersville, Texas, was selected as convention music director. B&R
