SAN ANTONIO (BP)–Union University presented Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page with its M.E. Dodd Denominational Service Award during a June 13 dessert reception at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in San Antonio.
The Dodd Award is the highest denominational service award given by Union, a Christian liberal arts university in Jackson, Tenn., affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
The award is named for the man who was a Union alumnus, served as president of the SBC and who was the father of today’s Cooperative Program, the method by which Southern Baptists channel their resources for state, national and international missions and ministries.
The award is given annually to a leader within the convention who displays excellence and leadership in Southern Baptist life as well as friendship and commitment to Union University. Past recipients include James T. Draper Jr., president emeritus of LifeWay Christian Resources (2004); Adrian Rogers, longtime pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., and a three-time president of the SBC (2005); and Morris H. Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee and former SBC president (2006).
“We applaud Frank Page for his leadership in Southern Baptist life, for his statesmanship and for his deep dedication to the vision of M.E. Dodd and the Cooperative Program,” Union President David S. Dockery said.
Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., said he was honored to receive the award, “especially in light of those who have received it previously.”
“I look for excellence everywhere I go,” Page told Union alumni and friends at the reception. “I have found it at Union University.
“There are other Christian institutions with a commitment to the truthfulness of Scripture, and there are other institutions with outstanding academic programs,” Page continued. “Bringing the two together is rare -– and almost singular -– and [is being done at] Union University.
Page has championed the Cooperative Program during his SBC presidency, while the church he leads allocates 12.5 percent of its undesignated receipts for Cooperative Program ministries in South Carolina and beyond.
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