[1]
The Committee on Nominations does not meet until March 10-11, 2005, but its work has begun under the leadership of its chairman, Wayne Lee. Information packets have been mailed to each member from the offices of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and committee members have begun enlisting names to consider for the trustee and committee vacancies that will occur effective at the end of the SBC annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, June 21-22, 2005.
The process required by the SBC Bylaws is as follows: 1) The president of the Southern Baptist Convention appoints the Committee on Committees, 2) The Committee on Committees nominates the Committee on Nominations [two members from each qualified state] to the messengers attending the next annual meeting of the Convention, 3) During the following year the Committee on Nominations reviews the qualification of potential nominees to fill SBC trustee and committee vacancies whose names are brought to their attention by interested Southern Baptists, 4) The Committee on Nominations nominates to the messengers attending the next annual meeting of the Convention those nominees they believe to be most worthy of election, and 5) The Convention then elects its trustees and committee members for terms stipulated by the bylaws of the Convention [for detailed information read SBC Bylaw 19, Committee on Committees, and SBC Bylaw 15, Committee on Nominations, which may be found in the SBC Annual, SBC Book of Reports, or on SBC.net at http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/legal/bylaws.asp.
The Committee on Order of Business presently is the only standing committee in the Southern Baptist Convention. Members of the Committee on Order of Business may be nominated from any qualified state. There are seven members on the committee including the president of the Convention. Two of the six other members are elected each year for a three-year term and no member can succeed himself or herself. For detailed information, read SBC Bylaw 21, Committee on Order of Business.
You may be asking the question, "Can I participate in the process by recommending a name or names to one or both members of the Committee on Nominations from my state?" The answer is an unqualified, "Yes!" You may ask, "What is the process?" The answer is, "Go to the Southern Baptist Convention web site, www.sbc.net, and click on the 'box' that reads 'Click to Recommend SBC Trustees or Committee Members [2].'" Doing so will allow you to access a recommendation form and other pertinent information. You may download the form, fill it out, and send it to the two Committee members from your state, or you may fill it out online and it will be electronically sent to the appropriate members of the Committee on Nominations. The names of the members of the Committee on Nominations are listed on the same web page(s) with the "recommendation form."
Although the names and terms of trustees serving on the boards of SBC entities are printed in the SBC Annual, compiling a list of all of the vacancies that need filling each year is a difficult task. Therefore, the listing below has been provided for ease of reference and to enable Southern Baptists to recommend qualified people to fill the vacancies that will soon exist on our committees and in regional representation on our boards. An asterisk by any name listed indicates the vocation of the present trustee is non-church/denominational-related. This raises the question, "Should I recommend a minister or a layman?" Because charters of each entity take precedence over SBC Bylaws and because the Committee must keep a certain balance between the two types of representatives who are being recommended, the Committee member from a given state may not know until late in the process whether he/she needs to nominate a church/denominational-related individual or a non-church/denominational-related individual. Consequently, if you are interested in nominating an individual or individuals for one or more of the trustee positions, I would advise you to nominate one church/denominational-related individual and one non-church/denominational-related individual.
[3]What are the requirements for a person who serves as a trustee on an SBC entity? These requirements are printed in SBC Bylaw 15, Committee on Nominations. One important criterion states, "The committee shall recognize the principle that the persons it recommends shall represent the constituency of the Convention, rather than the staff of the entity" [SBC Bylaw 15 (E)]. The Committee on Nominations traditionally has ranked two characteristics extremely high among those they have used to select appropriate persons for service from the pool of qualified candidates. Those two important characteristics are 1) whether the candidate embraces the Baptist Faith and Message as the representative confession of faith among Southern Baptists and 2) whether the candidate’s home church has regularly given a substantial percentage of its undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program.
If you wish to make recommendations for the Committee on Nominations to consider, 1) determine the entity and the trustee vacancy or vacancies for which you are making a nomination, 2) access www.sbc.net and locate the Recommendation Form and addresses of the committee members (found also in the SBC Annual), fill out the forms completely, and send them to the Committee on Nominations member(s) from your state. In March 2005, the Committee will meet to discuss the recommendations being made by the members from each qualified state and approve those who are to be recommended to the Convention the following June.
The strength of the Southern Baptist Convention is its people. None are more important than grassroots Southern Baptists who faithfully serve the Lord, often in anonymity, in their churches and communities. This process is open to any and every Southern Baptist who is a member in good standing of a Southern Baptist church. Whether you choose to engage in the process is a matter for you to prayerfully determine between you and the Lord. Individuals you may recommend should be bathed in prayer. Trustees have a critical role in the life of the Southern Baptist Convention. Year after year trustees are needed who come with a love for our Lord Jesus, a desire to please Him, strong biblical convictions, and a determination to review each issue upon its own merit and prayerfully conclude how to vote on matters before the body that ultimately could affect the entire Convention and beyond. The SBC owes genuine gratitude to the trustees rotating off the various trustee boards each year for the extraordinary faithfulness with which they have performed their assigned duties as representatives of the Convention.
I hope you will be praying for the trustees and SBC committee members serving presently and especially for God's perfect Will to be accomplished in the election of trustees yet to be nominated. Trustees, men and women, are needed who come to the position with a desire to accomplish God's purpose, not man's agenda. Please join me in asking God to bless each person who is willing to serve sacrificially for the sake of our dear Lord Jesus and the expansive witness of our Convention.
Persons Completing Their Second Term of Service Creating a Vacancy
Executive Committee
Alabama – Donald Cotten
Georgia – *Ronald E. Williams
Kentucky – *James C. Hales
New England – Jack M. Schneider
New York – Terry M. Robertson
North Carolina – *Donald L. Bailey
Tennessee – Abe F. Silliman Jr.
Texas – Gary A. Smith
West Virginia – Fred E. Morgan
GuideStone Financial Resources
Kentucky – Willis W. Henson
North Carolina – George J. Tous van Nijkerk
International Mission Board
Colorado – *Roy Duke
Hawaii – Bill G. Duncan
Illinois – Patrick T. Stewart
Kansas/Nebraska – Phillip C. (Bo) Graves
Kentucky – Timothy I. Alexander
Louisiana – *Diane B. Reeder
Oklahoma – *H. Blair Monhollon
Pennsylvania/South Jersey – *Lauren Law
Tennessee – John D. Adams
Texas – Henry Halleck (Hal) Kinkeade II
Virginia – R. Wayne Collis
North American Mission Board
Hawaii – *Donna S. Farr
Pennsylvania/South Jersey – *William A. Fields
Tennessee – David L. Thompson
Utah-Idaho – Robert Michael (Mike) Gray
LifeWay Christian Resources
Alabama – Kenneth R. Clement
Alaska – *Richard C. Hundrup
Florida – Hoyt (Skip) Haymans
Georgia – Tracy L. Brinson
Georgia – *Mary H. Cox
Missouri – *John D. (Doug) Russell
Oklahoma – *Frank A. McPherson
South Carolina – Jerry C. White
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Illinois – William J. Fritts
Kentucky – Ronald L. Fellemende
Louisiana – Fred A. Malone
Mississippi – Odean W. Puckett
North Carolina – Timothy C. Horldt
Local – *Charles D. Barnes
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Michigan – Ronald G. Emmerling
Missouri – *Arthur L. Mallory
New York – T. Van McClain
Tennessee – Robert C. Burch
At-Large – Michael D. Dean
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Michigan – Wendell E. Wood
Virginia – Don Davidson
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Maryland/Delaware – *Philip T. Mercer
South Carolina – *James E. (Jim) Merritt
Local – Coy C. Privette
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Georgia – *Mary Gwendolyn (Gwen) Newman
Virginia – Carl Weiser
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary
No Vacancies
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Alabama – *Richard Dale Wallace Jr.
Florida – Bruce M. Crawford
Georgia – *Ginger Bradshaw
Committee on Order of Business
At-Large – Sean Paul Pierce
At-Large – Leon Hyatt Jr.