[1]HOSCHTON, Ga. (BP)–Ray Newman, ethics and religious affairs specialist for the Georgia Baptist Convention, will be nominated as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a Georgia evangelist announced April 16.
Tommy Fountain, who also is director of missions for Mulberry Baptist Association in Hoschton, Ga., said he will nominate Newman for the post during the SBC’s June 15-16 meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Fountain cited Newman’s stand on moral issues as the basis for the nomination.
“In a time of moral and spiritual decline in our nation, Southern Baptists need the voice of a Ray Newman,” Fountain said. “For the past several years, Newman has stood for moral rectitude and righteousness under the gold dome of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta.”
In addition to his responsibilities with the Georgia Baptist Convention, Newman serves as a trustee of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. For the past seven years, he has written a weekly column for the Barrow County News titled “From Where I Stand.”
Newman is in his 50th year in ministry, the past 21 of those years as a state missionary for Georgia Baptists. He served as a pastor for nearly 30 years.
[2]John Killian, vice president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention and pastor of Maytown (Ala.) Baptist Church, said, “I do not know of a better man, more qualified to serve our convention than Ray Newman. With his experience in ministry and his knowledge of the current political issues, Ray is the man for this office.”
A native of Phenix City, Ala., Newman and his wife of 45 years, Gwen, reside in Winder, Ga. They have one son and four grandchildren. The Newmans are members of North Metro First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville.
Information from the 2009 Annual Church Profile for North Metro First Baptist Church lists 110 baptisms and primary worship service attendance of 2,129. The church gave $376,014, or 12.99 percent, through the Cooperative Program from total undesignated receipts of $2,892,419. According to the ACP, the church also received $16,185 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $10,575 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
Newman is the first announced nominee for SBC second vice president this year.
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Compiled by Joe Westbury, managing editor of The Christian Index, newsjournal of the Georgia Baptist Convention, and Baptist Press assistant editor Mark Kelly.