Southern Baptists Begin Committee and Board Recommendations
The nation’s largest protestant denomination is looking for candidates to fill the upcoming vacant spots on its boards of trustees and committees.
The nation’s largest protestant denomination is looking for candidates to fill the upcoming vacant spots on its boards of trustees and committees.
In the November issue of its monthly Life magazine, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer encouraged all 8 million Southern Baptists to “prayerfully determine” if there is anyone they know who would fit the positions.
“Whether you choose to engage in the process is a matter for you to prayerfully determine between you and the Lord. Individuals you may recommend should be bathed in prayer,” explained Morris Chapman.
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According to Baptist Press, the SBC Committee on Nominations has already begun receiving names through a new website utility. The candidates will fill the various trustee and committee vacancies that will occur at the end of the SBC’s annual meeting in June.
“Every member of a Southern Baptist church can visit the convention's website, www.sbc.net, and click on the option titled, "Recommend SBC Trustees or Committee Members." A recommendation form will appear on the screen, and it may be downloaded and faxed or filled out and filed electronically according to instructions,” Baptist Press reported.
Meanwhile, Chapman explained that the ground-up process of choosing SBC leaders is an important part of the denomination’s tradition.
"The strength of the Southern Baptist Convention is its people,” Chapman said in a statement. "None are more important than grassroots Southern Baptists who faithfully serve the Lord, often in anonymity, in their churches and communities. This process is open to any and every Southern Baptist who is a member in good standing of a Southern Baptist church.”
According to BP, the nomination process “begins with the SBC president appoints the Committee on Committees. That committee then nominates two Southern Baptist church members from each qualified state to form the Committee on Nominations. Once approved by SBC messengers at the annual meeting, the Committee on Nominations reviews the qualifications of potential nominees to fill SBC trustee and committee vacancies whose names are brought to their attention by interested Southern Baptists. The Committee on Nominations then nominates to the messengers at the next annual meeting those people they believe to be most worthy of election, and the convention then elects its trustees and committee members for terms stipulated by the convention bylaws.”
BP also noted that the SBC bylaws mandate candidates to understand they are representing the SBC as a whole, rather than as a staff of the entity. There are also two important characteristics that make the candidate eligible: the candidate must accept the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message and the candidate’s home church must have regularly given a substantial percentage of its receipts to the SBC’s Cooperative Program.
For more information, visit: www.sbc.net or www.bpnews.net
