Following In Their Footsteps

My family has been compared to the Tribe of Levi. As a child, I can remember family cookouts feeling like an auxiliary meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. My father, Horace Sims, was a pastor; my maternal grandfather, Grady Bridwell, was a pastor; and uncles on both sides of the family were pastors. The […]

President’s Perspective: What’s Best for the Kingdom?

We live in a world where everyone wants to know the answer to the question, “What’s in it for me?” I remember a conversation with some concerned parents one time who demanded that we consider what is best for the youth in the church. I was young and somewhat arrogant. I’m sure my answer seemed […]

President’s Perspective: Changing Times

They say that nothing is as certain as death and taxes. I would add change to the list of life’s certainties. Sometimes we choose change, and sometimes it chooses us. Sometimes it’s a combination of the two. I’ve seen a lot of change in my 45 short years of life. A lot of that change […]

President’s Perspective: Engaging Future Generations

I was called to serve as the pastor of a small, South Carolina Baptist church when I was 23 years old. There were 12 people in attendance on my first Sunday there. We were an aging church in a shrinking community with diminishing finances and several years of zero baptisms. If something didn’t change, if […]

President’s Perspective: Who Will You Engage?

One early summer evening in Greenwood, my dad and I were grilling burgers in our backyard. Dark clouds filled the sky as lightning flashed in the distance and thunder rumbled softly. A heavy drizzle began to moisten our shoulders. My dad joked, “This may be the day we all go home to be with the […]

President’s Perspective: Engaging in ‘Convention Life’

Once a year, the churches of the South Carolina Baptist Convention send messengers from their congregations to help set the course for our cooperative ministry. This gathering of South Carolina Baptists is called the annual meeting. This meeting is a vitally important part of Baptist life. There are at least four important things that take […]

President’s Perspective: Time to Engage

I believe we can accomplish more together than we can apart. I’ve always believed this, and I think I always will. I grew up learning all about how we as South Carolina Baptists accomplish incredible feats through cooperative missions and ministries, and how we funded those endeavors through the Cooperative Program. My dad, Horace Sims, […]