Daniel Dickard, senior pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., was elected president of the 2023 SBC Pastors Conference June 13.

Dickard won the election by a ballot vote, defeating African Christian University’s dean of theology Voddie Baucham by a vote of 690 (50.85 percent) to 608 (44.8 percent). A standing vote proved inconclusive, so a ballot vote was taken.

A native of Anderson, S.C., Dickard is a graduate of North Greenville University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the son of Wayne Dickard, retired pastor of Siloam Baptist Church in Easley and a former president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

In his nomination, Jordan Easley described Dickard as a pastor in the trenches “who is studying and preparing, preaching and praying, and shepherding week by week just like all of us. On Sunday mornings, you will find Daniel in a Sunday school class teaching the Bible. He’s greeting people in between services, and like many of us do every week, he is preaching the perfect Word of God faithfully.”

Easley, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Cleveland, Tenn., said among the reasons he nominated Dickard was Dickard’s love of the Southern Baptist Convention, his admiration for pastors both young and old, and his desire to lead a conference that blesses, equips, encourages and motivates pastors in their ministries.

“He upholds the best of our values,” Easley said. “He stands unwavering for the truth, preaching without compromise, the inerrancy of the Bible, the complementarian approach to gender and leadership, the exclusivity of Christ and the sanctity of life. He’s one of us.”

Easley noted Dickard has led Friendly Avenue Baptist to give 11 percent of its undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program, a fact that drew applause from the audience.

“What a great privilege and honor it is to serve Southern Baptists,” Dickard told Baptist Press after the vote results were announced.

“My goal has always been to be a unifier. I want to bring all sides together. This event is about encouraging pastors, and that’s always been the purpose — and that’s going to continue to be the purpose next year,” he said.

Dickard said he’s currently planning for the 2023 conference’s theme to be “Character Matters in Ministry,” focusing on the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-12. The 2023 SBC Pastors Conference is scheduled for June 11-12, in New Orleans.

— Robin Cornetet writes for Kentucky Today, the news website of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.