South Carolina Baptists Nov. 16 elected new officers and heard from the Southern Baptist Convention’s chief public policy official on the second and final day of the 196th annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, spoke on the imperative to combat the “scourge” of internet pornography, even among fellow Christians.
Russell Moore addresses S.C. Baptist messengers at the 2016 annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
“Pornography does not kindle sexuality, it strips it away,” Moore said. “It creates the illusion of anonymity, of just sort of being carried along. It is destroying our witness, our spiritual power, [and is ruining] marriages within our churches.”
“Our responsibility is to speak directly to the sin, but also to bear one another’s burdens … [because] we are a church of blood-bought believers,” Moore told messengers in a message based on 1 Corinthians 6. “If you come to Christ, whatever your guilt, God does not see you as that immoral, judged person. There is no condemnation.”
In addition to Moore, Wednesday morning’s speakers included South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson and Frank Page, president and CEO of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Page, noting the growing diversity of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, said many Southern Baptist congregations are non-white, with one in five of the SBC’s more than 51,000 congregations identifying as ethnic (black, Hispanic, Asian or other).
Wilson alerted South Carolina Baptists to the serious problems of human trafficking and internet crimes against children and urged churches to contact his office to learn how they can help push back against illegal activity and minister to victims of crime in their state. “Your engagement in the public arena is vital,” he told messengers.
Elections
Messengers elected a slate of officers to serve with SCBC president Keith Shorter in the coming year. Shorter, pastor of Mt. Airy Baptist Church in Easley, who was chosen president-elect last year, assumed the office of president upon the conclusion of this year’s annual meeting.
Officers elected this year included:
President-Elect — Marshall Blalock, pastor of Charleston First Baptist Church. Blalock was nominated by Will Browning, pastor of The Journey Church in Summerville. Blalock was elected with 219 of 338 votes cast. Bart Kelley, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Oakway, received 119 votes.
First Vice President — Bryant Sims, pastor of First Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Greenwood. Sims was elected without opposition and was nominated by David Little, director of missions for Lakelands Baptist Association.
Second Vice President — Lisa Willard, member of Calvary Baptist Church in Darlington, where her husband is pastor. Willard received 177 of 325 votes cast and was nominated by Ralph Carter, pastor of Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Taylors. Naveen Balakrishnan, pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church, Adams Run, received 148 votes.
Recording Secretary — Adrianne Smith, member of Taylors First Baptist Church. Smith was nominated by Lucy Sargent, member of Pickens First Baptist Church, and elected without opposition.
Registration Secretary — Larry Zaky, pastor of Hemingway First Baptist Church. Zaky was nominated by Naveen Balakrishnan and was elected without opposition.
The final registered messenger count for the 2016 annual meeting was 756, down from last year’s 965.