Pastors Porter, Wunch to be nominated for SCBC offices

Todd Deaton

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With the annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention about three months away, two pastors have confirmed that they will allow their names to be placed into nomination for convention offices.

Hans Wunch
Richard Porter

Richard Porter, pastor of Branchville Baptist Church for the past 11 years, will be nominated for SCBC president, and Hans Wunch, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Ware Shoals, will be nominated for second vice president.

Porter served as first vice president of the convention in 2006 and has also served as registration secretary and second vice president. A former member of the SCBC Executive Board, he currently is vice chairman of the Nominations Committee. He has also served on the Committee on Committees.

In Orangeburg-Calhoun Baptist Association, Porter has been moderator and chairman of its stewardship and nominations committees. An alumnus of North Greenville and Charleston Southern universities, Southeastern Baptist Seminary and Covington Seminary, he also is a former vice president of the South Carolina Baptist Pastor’s Conference.

Benjamin Smoak, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Neeses, will nominate Porter.

“As I have gotten to know Richard over the pastor several years, I cannot think of a more qualified person to serve as president of our beloved South Carolina Baptist Convention,” Smoak said in a statement to the Baptist Courier July 25.

“I have had the opportunity to serve with Richard on several teams and commissions in our association, and I have come to admire his willingness to serve, and the wisdom that he brings to the table,” Smoak said. “I believe that if he is elected, each South Carolina Baptist would see his humble spirit, his willing heart, his desire for missions and his passion to lead.”

Wunch, vice president of the state Pastor’s Conference, began duties as pastor of Calvary last September. A graduate of Charleston Southern University and Southeastern Baptist Seminary, he previously served at Doctor’s Creek Baptist Church, Walterboro, and is the immediate past secretary-treasurer of the conference.