Art Toalston

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Kathy Litton, director of planter spouse development for the North American Mission Board, will be nominated as registration secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention during the SBC's June 11-12 annual meeting, Florida pastor Jimmy Scroggins has announced. Scroggins, lead pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Fla., said in a May 28 statement to Baptist Press that Litton "has given a lifetime of service to Southern Baptists at all levels of our convention."

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Marshal Ausberry Sr., senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, Va., will be nominated as first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the SBC's June 11-12 annual meeting, Nevada pastor Vance Pitman has announced. Ausberry, who has led the church for 24 years into numerous local and global initiatives, also is the current president of the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP) -- Kathy Branzell has been named as Ronnie Floyd's successor as president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force. Branzell of Atlanta has participated in the National Day of Prayer for 19 years, according to a news release from the 10-member NDP board of directors. Floyd ended his two years of leading the National Day of Prayer on May 17 prior to taking ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Noe Garcia, senior pastor of North Phoenix Baptist Church, will be nominated as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the SBC's June 11-12 annual meeting, Tennessee pastor Micah Fries has announced. Fries, senior pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, said Garcia can be "a tremendous asset to the SBC" at a time "when Southern Baptists are struggling with questions like how we can see more people trust Christ, how to reach our increasingly diverse communities, and how we can continue to see our influence spread far beyond the Southeastern United States."

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- David Uth, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Orlando, will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference in June, Georgia pastor James Merritt has announced. "David is a pastor's pastor, a spiritual statesman, and is universally respected in his state and across our convention," Merritt, pastor of the Atlanta-area Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, said in a May 17 announcement to Baptist Press.

GALVESTON, Texas (BP) -- A San Antonio church has been removed from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention for retaining a pastor listed on the Texas Public Sex Offender Registry. The action involving New Spirit Baptist Church was taken by the SBTC’s Executive Board during an April 22-23 meeting in Galveston, the Southern Baptist TEXAN reported May 2.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Ronnie Floyd, who will assume office as president/CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee on May 20, has named Ed Upton as assistant to the president. Upton, 38, has been president of the Cross Church School of Ministry in northwest Arkansas since May 2017. He served as campus pastor for Cross Church's campus in Neosho, Mo., from 2015-2017.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Unity is a biblical mandate vital for empowering Hispanic Baptists' witness for Christ, two leaders said in setting forth their vision for cooperative efforts that transcend cultural impediments. Jonathan Santiago and Daniel Sanchez, two longtime Hispanic leaders in Southern Baptist life, responded to questions from Baptist Press about Hispanic unity in view of the June 10 gathering, "Celebrating Our Diversity and Unity in Christ" in Birmingham, Ala., prior to the SBC's June 11-12 annual meeting.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Ronnie Floyd is transparent about prayer as foundational and monumental in his life and ministry. A passion for prayer marks his personal conversations and his preaching and, now, it fills "How to Pray: Developing an Intimate Relationship with God."

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (BP) -- Nick Floyd was affirmed Sunday (April 28) as the next senior pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, to succeed his father, Ronnie Floyd, president/CEO-elect of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee. A statement posted at the church's website reported: "This morning, April 28, 2019, in the eleven services of Cross Church, Dr. Nick Floyd was voted upon and affirmed in an overwhelming manner to become the next Senior Pastor of Cross Church at the conclusion of morning worship on Sunday, May 19, 2019."