EDITOR’S NOTE: This article includes additional reporting by Pathway staff.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) – Southern Baptist messengers elected a new slate of officers during their annual meeting here, June 14-15.
The new slate of officers includes Missouri Baptist minister Don Currence, who was elected once again to serve as the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) registration secretary (Read more below).
It also included, for the first time in 25 years, a new recording secretary. During the annual meeting, Southern Baptist messengers honored Missouri Baptist Executive Director John Yeats, who has served as SBC recording secretary for two-and-a-half decades.
During the meeting, SBC Interim President & CEO Willie McLaurin presented Yeats with a framed certificate of appreciation and Yeats’ wife, Sharon, with a bouquet of flowers. (Read Yeats’ reflections about his service as recording secretary here.)
President
In one of two runoff elections at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting, Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas, was elected SBC president June 14 in a runoff with Florida pastor Tom Ascol.
Barber received 3,401 votes (60.87 percent) to Ascol’s 2,172 (38.88 percent).
In the initial round of ballots – a four-way contest that also included Frank Cox, pastor of North Metro Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., and Robin Hadaway, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Professor and former International Mission Board missionary – Barber garnered the most ballots with 3,258 votes, or 47.58 percent. Ascol received 2,332 votes, or 34.06 percent, while 874 ballots (12.95 percent) were cast for Cox and 340 votes (4.97 percent) for Hadaway.
First Vice President
Victor Chayasirisobhon, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Anaheim, Calif., and president of the California Southern Baptist Convention, was elected first vice president.
Of the 3,413 ballots cast, Chayasirisobhon received 1,711 votes (50.13 percent) and Brad Eubank, senior pastor of Petal First Baptist Church in Petal, Miss. Eubank received 1,685 votes (49.37 percent). Seventeen votes were disallowed.
Second Vice President
Alex Sands, senior pastor and planter of Kingdom Life Church in Simpsonville, S.C., was elected SBC second vice president in a runoff against Michigan pastor Rodolfo Diaz-Pons.
Of the 3,552 ballots cast, Sands received 2,121 votes (59.71 percent) while Diaz-Pons, senior pastor of Riverbend Baptist Church in St. Louis, Mich., received 1,426 (40.15 percent).
In the initial round, Sands received most of the 3,758 ballots, with 1,689 votes (44.94 percent) in a three-way contest. Diaz received 1,030 votes (27.41 percent), while 1,029 ballots (27.38 percent) were cast for Ryan Fullerton, lead pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. Ten were disallowed.
Recording Secretary
Nathan Finn, provost at North Greenville University, was elected SBC Recording Secretary, a position that has not changed hands in 25 years. John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, has been elected to the position unopposed 22 of the last 25 years. He opted not to seek reelection in 2022.
Of the 5,315 ballots cast, Finn received 2,727 votes (51.31 percent), Javier Chavez, pastor of Amistad Cristiana Church in Gainesville, Ga., received 1,836 votes (34.54 percent) and David Roach, senior pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Saraland, Ala., received 741 votes (13.94 percent). Eleven votes were disallowed.
Registration Secretary
Don Currence, administrative pastor at First Baptist Church in Ozark, Mo., was elected SBC Registration Secretary by acclamation.
Currence has served as registration secretary in 2018, 2019 and at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim. He also previously served as assistant registration secretary for 12 years.
Convention preacher
Todd Unzicker, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, was selected as the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting convention speaker with Jim Shaddix, professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., serving as alternate. James Cheesman, associate pastor and worship leader at FBC Farmersville, Texas, was selected as convention music director.