Exec. Dir. search focusing on 11 nominees
JEFFERSON CITY – Eleven.
That is the number of nominations the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Director Search Committee is presently considering, the committee’s chairman announced following the committee’s Jan. 16 meeting at the Baptist Building.
James Freeman, a member of Country Meadows Baptist Church, Independence, said the committee’s plan is to have the 11 candidates cut to five by Feb. 19, when the committee next meets.
“We currently have 11 nominations from across the nation that we are actively pursuing,” he said. “All are highly qualified and we ask that Missouri Baptists pray for each of these men and for the committee as we begin considering each one so we can narrow the search in order to find the man God has chosen to move Missouri Southern Baptists forward.”
The committee’s Jan. 16 meeting was the third since they were formed by an Executive Board vote on July 10, but it marked the first time that members began actually looking at nominations.
Freeman said once the five finalists are picked, they will be sent extensive questionnaires and the committee will initiate telephone interviews with each one.
“We are working on refining our guidelines, questions and processes that we are going to use, including some used by previous search committees in Missouri as well as in sister state conventions,” he said.
Once the questionnaires have been returned to the committee and each have been evaluated, the committee will rank each candidate #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5. They will begin dealing solely with #1 until he has been called, he withdraws or the committee decides to move on to candidate #2 and so on until a candidate is called or all five have completed the process. All five candidates will face an extensive vetting process that will include background checks and interviewing references – three to five levels deep.
“We are not going to put time limits on God,” Freeman said. “The committee is very excited and we are moving forward.”