Travis Kerns, Three Rivers Baptist Association mission strategist and member of Greer First Baptist Church, was elected as SBC recording secretary during the Orlando SBC Annual Meeting’s Tuesday afternoon session.
He won a three-way race with Mississippi pastor Jonathan Greer and Texas pastor George Schroeder. After Greer was eliminated in the first-round, Kerns defeated Schroeder by a vote of 2,966 (51.76 percent) to 2,758 (48.13 percent).
“Who do you want to tell our story? Who do you want to represent you in the room where it happens?” Southern Seminary professor Denny Burk asked in nominating Kerns.
“I’m telling you that this is the man for the job,” Burk said. “Travis’s devoted service at various levels of Southern Baptist life has been extraordinary. Not only has he pastored an SBC congregation, but he’s also served with distinction at several SBC entities. His training as an academic, a professor and as a published author have prepared him for overseeing the publication of the SBC annual. His deep conviction as a lifelong conservative Southern Baptist has prepared him to represent you on the Executive Committee,” he noted.
Kerns holds a Ph.D. and M.Div. degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a B.A. degree from North Greenville University. He was a Send City missionary in Salt Lake City with the North American Mission Board, and he served as an associate pastor in Greenville, S.C., for three years in the early 2000s.
He has served on the SBC Credentials Committee, the Committee on Committees, and the Cooperation Study Group.
He and his wife, Staci, have been married for more than 26 years and have one son, Jeremiah.