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SBC elections not lacking candidates in 2021

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to identify the person who will nominate Mike Stone for SBC president. That information was not available at time of publication.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Some SBC Annual Meetings offer little speculation as to the outcomes of the election of officers. The 2021 Annual Meeting in Nashville will not be one of those. With just under a month left until official nominations are made, at least 15 potential nominees have been announced for various SBC-related offices.

So far, there are four announced candidates for SBC president, five for vice president roles, and one each for recording secretary and registration secretary. For the SBC pastors’ conference, there are two announced candidates each for president and vice president.

Adams, Litton, Mohler, Stone vie for SBC presidency

Citing a desire for Southern Baptists’ focus to “be on the mission, with the Bible as our sole and final authority on all matters,” Northwest Baptist Convention Executive Director/Treasurer Randy Adams announced Jan. 20 [2] that he would be nominated for SBC president.

Adams, who has served in his current role since 2013, intended to be nominated [3] for president at the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting, but that meeting was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his candidacy announcement, he stated that his reasons for accepting that nomination have only intensified over the past year. Adams originally was to be nominated by former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Russell Fuller, but in a recent conversation with Baptist Press, Adams said he would have a different nominator who would be announced the day of the election.

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Before joining the Northwest Baptist Convention, Adams served as a pastor at three churches over a 20-year period. He also led the missions and evangelism team for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma for more than eight years.

Former SBC President Fred Luter announced Jan. 19 [5] his intention to nominate longtime friend and Mobile, Ala.-area pastor Ed Litton for the SBC presidency.

“I have known Ed Litton for over 20 years. Our relationship started when we preached for each other as part of the SBC Racial Reconciliation Sunday during the month of February,” Luter said. “From there our relationship developed to more than just colleagues to bring races together. We both shared the hope of drawing people closer to a relationship with Jesus Christ and then growing disciples for Christ. In both of our churches our focus has been the same all of these years.”

Since 1994, Litton has been pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, Ala., which was known as North Mobile Baptist Church until 2014. A Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate, Litton has served at First Baptist of Euless, Texas, in the college and career ministry and in the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention Evangelism department. In 1987 he planted Mountain View Baptist Church in Tucson, Ariz.

Citing a desire to serve as a uniter amid turbulent times, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said in October [6] he had agreed to accept a nomination to serve as SBC president at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting.

Mohler will be nominated by H.B. Charles, senior pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla. Charles had previously announced his intention to nominate Mohler for president at the 2020 Annual Meeting.

If elected, Mohler would be the first entity head to serve as SBC president since Paige Patterson, who served from 1999-2000 while president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mohler has been president of Southern since 1993.

Mike Stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Ga., and immediate past chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, announced his candidacy Jan. 13 [7]. Stone will be nominated by Dean Haun, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Morristown, Tenn. Haun is a former president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

Stone, a member of the steering council of the recently formed Conservative Baptist Network, served for five years on Emmanuel’s staff before becoming pastor in 2002. Stone has regularly appeared as a speaker at revivals and Bible conferences throughout the Southeast. In addition to his role as EC chairman, Stone has also served as Georgia Baptist Convention president and chairman of the GBC Executive Committee.

Baptist Press sat down with each of the presidential candidates for interviews over the past few months. You can read those at the following links: Adams [8]; Litton [9]; Mohler [10]; Stone [11].

Candidates announced for other positions

Candidates for other offices include Lee Brand [12] and Anthony Dockery [13] for first vice president of the SBC. For second vice president, Javier Chavez [12], Dusty Durbin [14] and Ramón Medina [15] are the announced candidates. John Yeats [16] will be nominated for recording secretary and Don Currence [17] for registration secretary.

Elections for the SBC Pastors’ Conference will take place during the Send Conference on Monday, June 13. Greg Davidson [18] and Matt Henslee [19] have been announced as presidential candidates, while Cameron Trigg and Victor Chayasirisobhon are candidates for vice president.

Nominations for all offices remain open until the time of election at the SBC Annual Meeting and Send Conference.