Ronnie Floyd unopposed as SBC president

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP)—Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention re-elected Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd without opposition to a second term as president during the SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd was re-elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention. (SBC Photo byby Paul W. Lee)North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear nominated Floyd, saying: “God’s hand has been upon Brother Ronnie. I believe he is the man God has raised up to lead us for another year.”

Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, noted Floyd “filled his first term with repeated calls to prayer.”

“He knows the needs in front of us are greater than we can supply and that our greatest hope is the mercy of God for the church and his compassion for this generation,” he said.

Floyd possesses a “convictional graciousness that honors the Lord in our convention,” Greear said. “I am amazed by the diversity of Baptists that call him as friend and look to him as leader. He unifies Southern Baptists. He is clear on those matters of first importance and gracious in those matters of secondary importance.”

Pastor at Cross Church

Floyd, pastor of the multi-campus Cross Church in northwest Arkansas for 28 years, has emphasized calling Southern Baptists to pray for spiritual awakening and for advancing the gospel globally during his first term as SBC president, while also championing the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists’ unified method of funding missions and ministries internationally and in North America.

He also serves as general editor of the Bible Studies for Life curriculum published by the SBC’s LifeWay Christian Resources. As lead pastor and strategist with the North American Mission Board, he played an instrumental role in encouraging churches to adopt one of NAMB’s 32 Send Cities.

Floyd served as chairman of the SBC Great Commission Task Force in 2009-10 that proposed wide-ranging recommendations for expanding Southern Baptists’ missions outreach. He is a former president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference and former chairman of the SBC Executive Committee. He also was a member of the SBC Program and Structure Task Force during the mid-1990s that reduced the number of SBC entities and updated their ministry assignments. As the pastor of Cross Church, Floyd led the congregation to start campuses in Springdale, Rogers and Fayetteville.

He holds doctor of ministry and master of divinity degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and an undergraduate degree from Howard Payne University.

Floyd and his wife, Jeana, have been married 37 years and have two married sons and six grandchildren.

Other officers

All other SBC officers for the coming year also were elected without opposition.

Steve Dighton, senior pastoral adviser at the Kansas City-area Lenexa Baptist Church in Lenexa, Kan., was elected as first vice president. Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano and former SBC president, nominated Dighton.

Chad Keck, senior pastor of the Dayton, Ohio-area First Baptist Church of Kettering since December 2010, was elected second vice president. David Starry of Vandalia, Ohio, nominated Keck.

John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention since 2011, was re-elected to a 19th term as recording secretary, nominated by Joshua Hedger of Kansas City. Jim Wells, strategic partners team leader for the Missouri Baptist Convention, was re-elected to a 14th term as registration secretary, nominated by Jimmy Draper, former president of LifeWay Christian Resources.

The committee on order of business recommended Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., as the 2016 convention preacher; H.B. Charles, pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, as the alternate; and Julio Arriola from Cross Church in northwest Arkansas as music director. All three were elected.

The 2016 SBC will be held June 14-15 in St. Louis.