A seven-member search committee charged with the responsibility of recommending the next executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention held its first meeting May 11 at the Baptist headquarters in Columbia with an emphasis on the importance of right relationships in the kingdom of God.
In a telephone conversation with The Baptist Courier, committee chairman Tim Williams of Roebuck said that at the initial gathering of this panel drawn from the convention’s Executive Board, “considerable time was spent sharing our ‘stories’ with each other in an effort to build relationships among members in preparation for the significant work ahead.”
“It was time well spent,” said Williams, pastor of Roebuck Baptist Church.
In addition to the seven committee members, Carlisle Driggers, who will retire Feb. 28 as executive director-treasurer, and Mike Hamlet of Spartanburg, chairman of the Executive Board, attended the meeting at the committee’s invitation.
According to the committee chairman, Driggers and Hamlet, who is pastor of North Spartanburg First Baptist Church, “shared valuable insights” with the select panel as well as taking part in the “personal sharing time.”
“No candidates for the position were discussed,” Williams said.
Future meetings will be held “off-campus,” according to Williams, to “facilitate complete confidentiality of the proceedings.”
For now, the committee seeks to lengthen its list of potential candidates for the top executive post in the convention. Resumes should be sent to Dr. Tim Williams, P.O. Box 490, Roebuck, S.C. 29376.
Also on the committee are Don Purvis of Hartsville, Betty Spradley of Rock Hill, Tom Swilley of Conway, Dennis Wilkins of Bluffton, Tommy Cofield of Lexington, and David Martin of Greenville.
The committee hopes to select a candidate for consideration by the Executive Board at its Oct. 9-10 meeting at White Oak Conference Center and by messengers to the annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention at First Baptist Church, Taylors, Nov. 14-15.