ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) – Southern Baptists will have a variety of candidates to choose from when electing officers during the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting June 14-15.
A list of candidates for each elected position is below:
President
After SBC President Ed Litton announced earlier this year that he will not seek a second term, several candidates have announced their intention to seek run for the office. The three announced candidates are:
Tom Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral (Florida) and founder of Founders Ministries, announced his intention to run on March 22.
Robin Hadaway, a former International Mission Board missionary, was announced as a candidate March 23. Hadaway will be nominated by fellow former IMB missionary Wade Akins.
Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church, Farmersville, Texas, announced on April 7 he intends to accept a nomination from 2022 SBC Pastors’ Conference President Matt Henslee. Barber will also be serving as the chairman of the Committee on Resolutions at this year’s annual meeting.
A fourth candidate, Florida pastor Willy Rice, announced his candidacy in early March, but withdrew his candidacy April 6.
First Vice President
Victor Chayasirisobhon, president of the California Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Anaheim, was announced as a candidate for first vice president on February 15. Chayasirisobhon will be nominated by Abel Galvan, senior pastor of Faith Fellowship church in La Palma, Calif.
Second Vice President:
South Carolina pastor Alex Sands will be nominated for second vice president by fellow South Carolina pastor Josh Powell. Sands is the founder and pastor of Kingdom Life Church in Simpsonville, S.C., and in 2021, he became the first African American to serve as president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
Recording Secretary
After John Yeats announced he would not seek the office again this year (Yeats has served in the position since 1997), several candidates have come forward to be nominated for recording secretary.
Javier Chavez, pastor of Amistad Cristiana Church in Gainesville, Ga., announced his candidacy in late March. Chavez told Baptist Press that several individuals have volunteered to give his nomination speech at the annual meeting, and an announcement on that is expected this month.
Nathan Finn, current provost at North Greenville University, will be nominated for recording secretary by David Sons, pastor of Lake Murray Baptist Church in Lexington, S.C.
Alabama pastor David Roach was announced as a candidate for recording secretary in late April. Mark Snowden, director of missional leadership for the Cincinnati Area Baptist Association, announced his intention to nominate Roach.
Roach has been the pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Saraland, Ala., since 2020, and previously served as chief national correspondent for Baptist Press from 2014-2019.
In addition to these positions, messengers to the annual meeting will have the opportunity to select the president of next year’s SBC Pastors’ Conference, which will be held June 11-12, 2023, immediately prior to next year’s annual meeting in New Orleans.
Official nominations for Pastors’ Conference president will take place June 13, 2022, during the second day of this year’s conference. The following candidates have announced their intention to be nominated:
Daniel Dickard, pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., will be nominated for president of the pastors’ conference. Jordan Easley, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cleveland, Tenn., announced his intention to nominated Dickard in a video shared on social media March 16.
Voddie Baucham, dean of theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, was announced as a candidate for pastors’ conference president in a story published at the conservative news site Daily Wire.
Nominations for all positions remain open until the time of voting at the annual meeting this summer. To register as a messenger to the annual meeting, go here.
