Baptist and Reflector
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — J.D. Greear was elected without opposition for a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the convention’s afternoon session on June 11.
He will lead a diverse slate of officers, including: Marshal Ausberry, senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax, Va., first vice president; Noe Garcia, senior pastor of North Phoenix Baptist Church, second vice president; John Yeats executive director of Missouri Baptist Convention, recording secretary; and Kathy Litton, director of planter spouse development for North American Mission Board, registration secretary.
Litton is the first woman to serve as SBC registration secretary, edging out incumbent SBC registration secretary Don Currence by 44 votes. Of 3,571 votes cast, Litton received 1,803 votes, or 50.49 percent of the ballots cast. Currence received 1,759 votes, or 49.26 percent of the ballots cast.
Greear, who was elected as president at last year’s annual meeting, was nominated by Pennsylvania pastor K. Marshall Williams.
When he announced in April that he was nominating Greear for a second term, Williams told Baptist Press, “In these troublesome and turbulent times, we need a pastor-preacher-prophet that will stand in the gap and lead with confident, consistent, convictional, Christo-centric, courageous courtesy.”
In nominating Greear, Williams cited the growth of The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area under Greear’s leadership. He also noted Greear’s emphasis in his first year as president in evangelism, his emphasis on racial and gender diversity in his presidential appointments and his strong stance in helping to combat sexual abuse in churches. B&R – Margaret Colson of Baptist Press contributed to this report.
