LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–Jimmy Scroggins, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Fla., will be nominated for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference during its June 21-22 meeting in Louisville, Ky.
Scroggins, who has served the West Palm Beach congregation since July 2008, will be nominated by Paul Chitwood, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Mount Washington, Ky., and an assistant professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
“My plan to nominate Jimmy Scroggins as first vice president of the Pastor’s Conference is the result of witnessing God’s hand on Jimmy’s life during the 15 years I have known him,” Chitwood told Baptist Press. “While God has propelled Jimmy into significant leadership roles in His Kingdom work, Jimmy has remained humble and faithful in his walk with the Lord, and as a pastor, husband and father.”
Before coming to the West Palm Beach congregation, Scroggins served as teaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., and professor of youth ministry and evangelism at Southern Seminary and its undergraduate program, Boyce College. He also served as dean of Boyce College from 2004 to 2008.
Scroggins’ early career plans focused on a military career, law school and politics, and he accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, Chitwood said. A bout with cancer, however, changed his course and ultimately led to a sense of God’s calling to preach.
“Growing up in First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., Jimmy learned to respect and appreciate those who faithfully serve the Lord in the local church and in our convention,” Chitwood said. “Resembling the men who invested in him, Jimmy’s own ministry has been marked by investing in the next generation of leaders for the Lord’s churches. Boyce College experienced a dramatic increase in enrollment during Jimmy’s tenure as dean. Highview Baptist Church, where Jimmy shared preaching duties with his senior pastor, Kevin Ezell, also experienced phenomenal growth. That pattern of growth likewise has marked Jimmy’s ministry as the pastor of First Baptist Church, West Palm Beach.”
Scroggins’ leadership qualities will help Southern Baptists meet the challenges before them, Chitwood said.
“Jimmy will help our Pastors’ Conference and our convention in our efforts to pull in the younger generation of SBC pastors and leaders,” Chitwood said. “With his heart for the nations, Jimmy also serves as an inspiration to pastors who want to lead their churches to take the Gospel both to their community and to the world. Jimmy’s research and writing on strategies to evangelize unreached people groups by targeting youth is groundbreaking. Jimmy is a gifted preacher, devoted pastor and committed follower of Christ. He will be a faithful officer for our Pastors’ Conference.”
Scroggins is a graduate of Jacksonville (Fla.) University and holds M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Southern Seminary. He and his wife Kristin married in 1994 and have eight children — six boys and two girls — ranging in age from 13 years to 2 months.
Information from the 2008 Annual Church Profile for First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach showed 74 baptisms and primary worship service attendance of 1,678. The congregation gave $29,335, or 0.6 percent, through the Cooperative Program on total undesignated receipts of $4.25 million. The gave $73,000 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $8,200 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
Scroggins is the first announced candidate for the position.
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Compiled by Mark Kelly, an assistant editor with Baptist Press.
