Messengers to the 206th Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention heard a seven-year vision cast by their executive director-treasurer, elected an Anderson pastor to serve as president-elect, and approved a $26 million Cooperative Ministry Plan.
They also heard a report for a Pastoral Study Group regarding the pastoral titles of pastor, elder and overseer and adopted five resolutions.
Registration for the Nov. 9–10 annual meeting at Riverland Hills Baptist Church in Irmo, with the theme “One Gospel, One Family, One More,” tallied approximately 725 messengers. Convention President Ryan Pack, pastor of Riverland Hills, presided.
Riverland Hills’ choir and orchestra opened the SCBC Annual Meeting with worship.
In addressing the messengers, Pack highlighted that Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one in Christ. “According to the prayer of Jesus, our oneness is a gospel necessity,” he said. Oneness is often thought of as being only for us, Pack said, “and we forget the reason why we need that oneness is because a watching world needs the Gospel, and they need to be able to see the characteristics of God.”
Vision 2033
In his report, Executive Director-Treasurer Tony Wolfe launched Vision 2033, a seven-year initiative to deploy more ministers and send more missionaries to share the Gospel. Wolfe set five goals for SCBaptists:
- baptizing 120,000 South Carolinians;
- planting 100 churches;
- mobilizing 200 new, full-time international missionaries;
- deploying 500 new ministers; and
- growing Cooperative Program giving to $33 million.
“We have the unprecedented opportunity of a lifetime right now to reach our state and our nations through sacrificial, strategic Great Commission cooperation,” Wolfe said. “This is Vision 2033, the opportunity for us as South Carolina Baptists to rise to our moment and present Christ with an inheritance that is worthy of His name.”
Pastoral Study
A Pastoral Study Group, appointed last year in response to a motion offered by messenger Kyle Caudell of Anderson, recommended affirming that the office of pastor/elder/overseer be reserved for biblically qualified men. The 12-member committee called SCBaptist churches to “apply the titles ‘pastor,’ ‘elder’ and ‘overseer’ in ways that accurately reflect the biblical offices and responsibilities associated with those terms.”
“This office is defined by the qualifications set forth in Scripture rather than by cultural trends or personal preferences,” their report stated. Citing the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and historic Baptist practice, the pastors urged church leaders to “pursue biblical clarity, doctrinal faithfulness, and cooperative unity.”
New SCBC Officers
The 2027 SCBC officers (l to r) are Chris Blalock, Charleston; Brett Myers, Hilton Head; Kyle Caudell, Anderson; and incoming president Cory Horton, Taylors. At the podium is 2026 president Ryan Pack (second from left).
Kyle Caudell, pastor of North Anderson Baptist Church, was elected as the 2028 president-elect by acclamation. He was nominated by Mark Krieger, pastor of Mt. Bethel Baptist Church in Belton.
Caudell has pastored North Anderson for five years and served South Carolina churches for 17 years. He has served as treasurer and president of the SCBaptist Pastors’ Conference, moderator of Saluda Association, and as a member and officer of the SCBC Executive Board. The church’s 2025 Annual Church Profile reported Cooperative Program contributions of approximately 9.1 percent of its undesignated receipts.
“The fruit of his life is observed through his faith — faith in the sovereignty of Christ, the authority and sufficiency of Scripture and the autonomy of the local church, the sufficiency of the gospel to save anyone and everyone who believes, and the missional strategy of cooperation,” Krieger said of Caudell.
Messengers also unanimously elected Brett Myers, pastor of Hilton Head First Baptist Church, as SCBC vice president, and Chris Blalock, pastor of Pine Crest Baptist Church in Charleston, as registration secretary. They will serve alongside the 2027 president, Cory Horton, pastor of Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Taylors.
Next year’s annual meeting will be held at First Baptist Church, Columbia, on Nov. 8–9, with “Steadfast: Commission, Commitment and Conviction” as the theme.
CP Budget
The 2027 budget goal of $26 million, identical to last year’s amount, allocates 25.41 percent, or $6,606,600, for international missions; and 20.09 percent, or $5,223,400, for North American missions and other Southern Baptist Convention causes. The SCBC will retain 54.5 percent, or $14,170,000, for South Carolina Baptist ministries, the state’s three Baptist universities and five ministry partners.
Along with the budget, they also approved the recommendations of the convention’s Nominations Committee and Committee on Committees for service on SCBC entity boards and committees.
Five Resolutions
Observing that an “elastic use” of biblical terminology which stretches the titles of pastor, elder and overseer to cover “roles Scripture does not assign to them” has contributed to “confusion and weakened doctrinal clarity,” messengers to the SCBC annual meeting reaffirmed that the office of pastor/elder/overseer is “limited to men,” as qualified in Scripture.
The messengers urged SCBaptist churches to use the titles with “care and precision,” reserving them for the biblical office, and “not attaching them to roles that separate the title from the office and its function” of preaching and teaching the Word before the gathered assembly.
In the same resolution, they also gave thanks to God for the faithful women “whose service, discipleship, evangelism, teaching, and missions labor” strengthen churches and carry the Gospel across the state and to the nations.
In another resolution, messengers urged churches to develop plans to include those with physical and intellectual disabilities “so families can have opportunities to participate in the fellowship of the church.”
They also urged the General Assembly and state agencies to foster an environment that “strengthens the availability, accessibility and quality of care for individuals with disabilities, supporting families and caregivers, and encouraging sustainable solutions that promote dignity, independence and quality of life.”
Following the passage of the federal 2018 Farm Bill, which removed hemp from the federal controlled substance list, the messengers also passed a resolution expressing their “deep concern” over the proliferation and sale of THC-infused products in the state.
In another resolution, they also encouraged churches, associations, convention ministries, and ministry partners to “cultivate a culture in which God’s call to ministry and missions” is taught, celebrated and extended to the next generation of servant leaders.
CLPA Awards
The E.A. McDowell Award, presented by the Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee, recognized Carter and Jeannie Smith, founders of Coastline Women’s Center, for their ministry to women facing unplanned pregnancy.
First Baptist Church of Spartanburg received the Impact Your World award for providing leadership and care for children, teens and adults with special needs.
Laura Hudson, of the South Carolina Victims Assistance Network, was presented the Joe Mack Public Service Award for her service promoting victims’ rights and fighting on behalf of women and children.
(With additional reporting by Mary Margaret Flook of The Baptist Courier staff.)
