Editor’s note: This story was revised on Nov. 9 to reflect additions to the membership of the Seeking the Kingdom Task Force by South Carolina Baptist Convention president Brad Atkins.
The president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention will announce at this year’s annual meeting the formation of a special committee – the Seeking the Kingdom Task Force – charged with crafting a ministry concept and plan that will guide the future work of the state convention and its churches.
AtkinsThe charge to the group will be to recommend the transition forward from Experience Kingdom Life, “with the Cooperative Program and the Great Commission Resurgence principles as our guides,” said state convention president Brad Atkins.
Experience Kingdom Life is the SCBC’s current ministry focus and is slated to end in December 2013.
The task force will begin its official duties following the 2012 annual meeting, to be held Nov. 13-14 in Greenville, and will report its recommendations to messengers at the 2013 annual meeting.
“This task force can give a true voice [as] to what South Carolina looks like and what we believe our future will hold for us,” said Atkins, pastor of Powdersville First Baptist Church. He cited Matthew 6:33 (“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” NIV) as a guiding Bible verse, both for naming the task force and as the principle for discerning the new ministry framework.
The task force will be comprised of elected convention leaders, pastors, institutional leaders, lay leaders and SCBC staff, with statewide representation. It will be chaired by Sonny Holmes, 2011 SCBC president and pastor of Northwood Baptist Church, North Charleston. Brian Saxon, pastor of Lancaster Second Baptist Church, will serve as vice chairman.
Statewide, task force members will include Jerry White, 2005 SCBC president and pastor of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, Easley; Don Wilton, 2006 SCBC president and pastor of Spartanburg First Baptist Church; Eddie Leopard, 2008 SCBC president and pastor of Millbrook Baptist Church, Aiken; Fred Stone, 2010 SCBC president and pastor of Pickens First Baptist Church; Jamie Duncan, pastor of East Pickens Baptist Church, Pickens; Rocky Purvis, pastor of Northside Baptist Church, West Columbia; Johnny Touchet, pastor of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, Powdersville; Marshall Blalock, pastor of Charleston First Baptist Church; Steve Cartin, pastor of Red Oak Grove Baptist Church, Edgefield; Alex Sands, pastor of Kingdom Life Christian Center, Mauldin; Steven Ruff, pastor of Port Royal Baptist Church; Tommy Kelly, pastor of Varnville First Baptist Church; Rod Elliott, pastor of Kelleytown Baptist Church, Hartsville; Mark DeVaney, pastor of Bluffton First Baptist Church; David Shirley, director of missions for Beaverdam Baptist Association; Duane Greene, member of Pickens First Baptist Church; and Eddie Fulmer, member of Bethel Baptist Church, Prosperity.
The 2013 SCBC president and first vice president, to be elected at the Nov. 13-14 annual meeting, will serve on the task force, as will the SCBC Executive Board chairman. Also, Executive Board members to be elected in December to chair the board’s standing committees (administrative; budget, finance and audit; properties; planning and ministries; and scholarships) will serve on the task force.
Also serving will be the presidents (or their designated representatives) of the SCBC’s seven institutions: Anderson, Charleston Southern, and North Greenville universities; The Baptist Courier; the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina; Connie Maxwell Children’s Home; and South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging.
South Carolina Woman’s Missionary Union executive director-treasurer Laurie Register will serve on the task force, as will the state WMU president.
SCBC staff members serving on the task force will include Jim Austin, executive director-treasurer; Roger Orman, associate executive director for communications and mission development; Wayne Terry, associate executive director for evangelism and multiplication; and David Parks, associate executive director for church strengthening and support.
“As a state convention, I want us to make sure we are working toward the same goal – to seek first [God’s] kingdom, to know what we are doing and why. It was Jesus’ prayer for [God’s] kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. He already knows the plan for our state convention, and we can only discover that by seeking his will,” Atkins said.
Historically, in the South Carolina Baptist Convention, special committees have been named for long-range planning purposes, and other study committees have addressed specific ministries (like the Cooperative Program), or pertinent issues, as was the case with the 1991 Furman-SCBC Relations Committee. Most often, such committees included lay and clergy leaders and representatives from the state convention staff and operated within a one-year time frame for reporting recommendations. – SCBC