Ken Weathersby, EC vice president for Convention advancement, joined by his Convention Advancement Advisory Council and numerous ethnic fellowship presidents and leaders, present a facsimile of The Many Faces of the Southern Baptist Convention to EC President Frank S. Page at a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, on August 18, 2017. The book chronicles the work and reports of numerous advisory councils Page has appointed since 2011. Photo by Roger S. Oldham.
Members of the Executive Committee Convention Advancement Advisory Council (CAAC), joined by leaders of more than a dozen ethnic minority fellowships of Southern Baptist churches, presented a preliminary draft of The Many Faces of the Southern Baptist Convention, to EC President and CEO Frank S. Page at the CAAC’s August 18–19 meeting in Atlanta. The book chronicles the work of six advisory councils appointed by Page since 2011.
Each advisory council represents a different demographic set of Southern Baptists and was appointed to help the Executive Committee and SBC entity heads better understand each group’s unique perspectives and needs.
“The advisory councils represent more than ten thousand ethnic and language churches and congregations and over thirty thousand bivocational and smaller membership congregations,” said Ken Weathersby, vice president for Convention advancement with the EC. “Therefore, it is important for the CAAC to assist in the implementation of the reports presented to Dr. Page and to our entity leaders.”
In addition, Weathersby noted that women account for the single largest segment of Southern Baptists, accounting for more than 52 percent of all church members.
The CAAC works closely with Weathersby, assisted by Paul Kim, Asian American relations consultant to the EC, and Bobby Sena, Hispanic relations consultant to the EC.
The Many Faces of the Southern Baptist Convention, produced under the leadership of Weathersby and Sena, summarizes the work of the following advisory groups:
- Hispanic Advisory Council, appointed in 2011;
- African American Advisory Council, appointed in 2012;
- Asian American Advisory Council, appointed in 2013;
- Multi-Ethnic Advisory Council, appointed in 2014;
- Bivocational and Small Church Advisory Council, appointed in 2014;
- Women’s Advisory Council, appointed in 2015.
The advisory councils’ reports are posted online at SBC.net/AdvisoryCouncilReports. Each report contains information about ministries undertaken by the respective groups. The reports also present recommendations to assist Southern Baptist leaders as they seek to incorporate all Southern Baptists more fully into the total fabric of Southern Baptist life, including leadership roles.
