The chairman of a committee searching for a new executive director-treasurer for the South Carolina Baptist Convention says the group is pursuing a “nationwide effort to locate the right leader” and is putting prayer at the forefront of its efforts.

Marshall Blalock, pastor of First Baptist Church of Charleston and chairman of the search committee of the SCBC Executive Board, said in a statement that the committee has received several recommendations for the position that was vacated in October 2014 when Jim Austin retired as the state executive for South Carolina Baptists.

He said all candidates are evaluated in light of a “matrix” of qualities developed by the search committee in order to arrive at a nominee who will be able to “lead in this unique role.”

Blalock did not predict how long the search process would last, but said the committee is “working … methodically, and we are moving at a steady pace.”

Below is the full text of Blalock’s statement:

First of all, I thank everyone who is praying for this process, for the potential candidates, for the committee, and for God’s leadership in the state convention as a whole. The committee, made up of 10 members from every area of South Carolina, has adopted an ambitious plan to seek the right candidate to accept this key role for the future of our convention and the people of South Carolina. Each member is important to the committee and represents a cross section of our churches. What I am personally impressed by is the unity of spirit in a group that has diverse backgrounds. 

The first commitment of the search team has been to seek the heart and will of God. Every meeting has had extended-time praying as the first order of business. The committee has agreed also to make it a personal priority to pray for the Lord to guide us. One of the first steps of the committee was to develop a profile of what qualities are essential for someone to lead in this unique role. That matrix guides the committee as each name is carefully considered. Many excellent people have made recommendations to the committee, and the committee has sought recommendations in a nationwide effort to locate the right leader. The committee continues to pray through and evaluate each candidate with the best interests of our convention front and center in every member’s heart and mind. 

We cannot promise how long this effort will take, but be sure that we are regularly meeting, we are working our plan methodically, and we are moving at a steady pace. We continue to ask for your prayers. The committee has made a covenant not to report details until we have a recommendation, but we wanted to share this update to provide some insight to the process and as an encouragement to continue to pray for God to guide us. In the meantime, we want to thank Richard Harris, our interim executive director, who is extremely helpful to our committee, and is an outstanding leader for us as interim.