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Kan.-Neb. searching for new exec. director

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TOPEKA, Kan. (BP)–The Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists has launched a search for its next executive director ahead of the impending retirement of Rex “Peck” Lindsay, who has led the convention since 1977.

Steve Holdaway, the convention’s president, told Baptist Press the KNCSB executive committee — serving as the search team — is looking for an individual with a missionary focus.

“Our current executive director has been the executive director longer than any other one in the SBC,” Holdaway, pastor of LifeSpring Church in Bellevue, Neb., said. “He sees himself as a true missionary. That’s huge. We want somebody with a missionary zeal, someone who sees himself as a missionary strategist. At the same time, he is competent to manage our state staff, to direct finances and staff.”

The executive director essentially is tasked with planning, coordinating, budgeting and communicating while leading the overall missions ministry of the two-state convention, Holdaway said.

“It’s direct supervision of the senior staff, which would be about 10 people. Of course there are other people under them,” he said. “Another huge aspect of the job is we want him to be a forward-thinking innovator when it comes to reaching new people groups in Kansas-Nebraska.

“This is not just an ivory tower office job. We need somebody who can understand the times and the change in Kansas-Nebraska,” Holdaway said. “We have ethnic groups. We have so many Hispanics now, Sudanese, more and more African American churches coming on board. Times are changing, so this person needs to have a passion to lead us to continue to reach new people groups within Kansas-Nebraska.”

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As in any state convention, Holdaway said the post also will entail reaching a younger generation of Southern Baptists and unbelievers who may not respond to traditional methods of evangelism or efforts at integrating age groups.

“The benefits, though, are Kansas-Nebraska for all these years has been a sweet two-state convention that is nonpolitical,” Holdaway said. “It’s conservative, Bible-believing, missions-minded but not fighting. We don’t play the politics games of this group versus that group. We’re all really unified and we want to keep it that way. The committee will not consider anybody who has a political agenda.”

Lindsay, meanwhile, will step down from the position later this year to pursue other ministry opportunities. He said his successor will enjoy cooperation from those he’ll lead.

“The board and the pastors are very supportive,” Lindsay told BP. “They’re creative and they’re willing to try new things that are not in conflict with biblical principles, moral or ethical behavior. The board has been very supportive and willing to try to reach all the people groups that are here without being tied to any one way to do it.”

Resumes may be e-mailed to Carol Moore at [email protected] before May 22, and they’ll be forwarded to the search committee prior to its June meeting.

“We’re requesting soft copies of resumes so they can be distributed to the committee because it’s made up of folks throughout Kansas and Nebraska,” Holdaway said.

The Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, with a 2009 operating budget of $5.6 million, has about 400 congregations with 63,000 members and will mark its 64th annual meeting this fall. The convention building is in Topeka.
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Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press.