KATY, Texas (BP)–John L. Yeats, recording secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1996, will be nominated for another one-year term, Gerald Smith, executive pastor of First Baptist Church in Katy, Texas, announced June 1.
Yeats currently serves as director of communications for the Louisiana Baptist Convention and is interim pastor of Ridge Avenue Baptist Church in West Monroe, La.
He is a former editor of the state Baptist papers in Oklahoma and Indiana and has served churches in six states during his 36 years of ministry.
“For the Lord’s work to prosper we must have leaders,” Smith said in a news release. “Not just any leaders, but leaders who passionately love the Lord and serve him with excellence. John Yeats is that kind of leader.
“I have watched as John has exercised the wisdom, gifts and skills the Lord has given to him. We need his kind of continued leadership.”
Smith said he has served on boards for various organizations with Yeats since 1993, including the SBC Executive Committee. They first met in Texas when Yeats served as senior pastor of the South Park Baptist Church in Grand Prairie.
“Many Southern Baptists have read John’s editorials and feature stories,” Smith said, “and as a result you know John is a convictional biblical conservative who loves the Lord and His church.”
The SBC recording secretary is responsible for the accurate record of the proceedings of the Southern Baptist Convention, the training of volunteer pages and the final edit of the SBC Book of Reports and the SBC Annual. He also serves as an ex officio member of the SBC Executive Committee.
Yeats designed the process for the flow of information from the convention floor to the convention platform and distribution to the Order of Business Committee, a process that has enhanced the accuracy of the official record.
“Not just everyone has the skill set to fulfill the duties of this office. Yet the Lord has uniquely gifted John to serve our convention,” Smith said.
Yeats is a graduate of Dallas Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 2006, he received a doctor of ministry degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.
Information for Ridge Avenue Baptist Church from Southern Baptists’ Annual Church Profile survey for the most recent year, 2006, lists nine baptisms and primary worship service attendance of 225. The church gave $54,349, or 10.2 percent, through the Cooperative Program from total undesignated receipts of $534,825. According to the ACP, the church’s total mission expenditures were $76,861, including $7,176 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $5,451 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
The election of recording secretary is scheduled for Wednesday morning of the SBC’s June 12-13 annual meeting in San Antonio.
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