Diversity of SBC on display in 2021 Committee on Committees

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Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear has announced the 68 members of the Committee on Committees that will meet prior to the SBC annual meeting in Nashville June 15-16.

Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., has named Meredith Cook, a member of Neartown Church in Houston, as chair of this year’s Committee on Committees. Steven Wade, lead pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, N.C., will serve as vice chair.

Cook will lead the most diverse slate of committee members ever appointed by an SBC president.

The 2021 Committee on Committees includes 39 women and 29 men and is majority non-white — 14 members are African-American, 12 are Asian and nine are Hispanic. Some committee members come from churches that average nearly 700 in weekly worship, while 40 members attend churches averaging fewer than 250 in weekly worship.

The members’ churches average giving 6 percent through the Cooperative Program and average 25 baptisms per year.

“I am grateful for this diverse group and their willingness to be a part of the process, many of them serving for the first time,” Greear said. “They are people who want to unify around the gospel above all, and who believe we must be a convention that reflects the coming kingdom while we engage the next generation on mission. They truly are Great Commission Baptists.”

Committee members from South Carolina are Amber Mathis, The Church at Cherrydale, Greenville; and Shana Sands, Kingdom Life Church, Simpsonville.

Committee on Resolutions

Greear also announced the addition of Adron Robinson, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist in Country Club Hills, Ill., to the 2021 Committee on Resolutions. Robinson fills a seat vacated by Angela Suh Um, who was previously announced as vice chair for the 2021 Committee and is now unable to serve.

With Um’s departure from the committee, Nathan Finn, provost and dean of the faculty at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C., and member of Mountain Creek Baptist Church, will serve as vice chairman of the 2021 Committee on Resolutions.