Southern Baptists elect Floyd leader

He’s group’s 3rd president from state

The Rev. Ronnie Floyd waves to the gathering Tuesday in Baltimore after being elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention. “We need the next spiritual awakening,” Floyd said.

The Rev. Ronnie Floyd waves to the gathering Tuesday in Baltimore after being elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention. “We need the next spiritual awakening,” Floyd said.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

BALTIMORE -- Arkansas megachurch pastor the Rev. Ronnie Floyd was tapped Tuesday to become the next president of the 15.7 million-member Southern Baptist Convention.

Floyd, 58, received 1,834 of the 3,553 ballots cast, or just more than 51 percent of the votes. The pastor of Cross Church, based in Springdale, edged out the Rev. Dennis Kim, pastor at Global Mission Church of Greater Washington in Silver Spring, Md., and the Rev. Jared Moore, pastor at New Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, Ky. Kim received 1,446 votes, and Moore received 210.

Floyd will be the third Arkansan in the history of the nation's largest Protestant denomination to serve in the spot. He will succeed the convention's first black president, the Rev. Fred Luter, pastor at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans.

"I have trusted the Lord over the years that He would do with me as He would choose," Floyd said. "I've been very clear over these last few months since Dr. [Albert] Mohler made my nomination public back in February that it was my intention and my goal to craft, as well as to cast, a clear definable vision that I believe that the greatest need in the Southern Baptist Convention, and quite honestly, the greatest need in the United States of America is a great awakening. We need the next spiritual awakening."

The convention, which began Tuesday at the Baltimore Convention Center and ends today, comes at a time when the denomination has seen its seventh-consecutive annual drop in membership and its second-consecutive annual decline in baptisms. The convention has centered on themes of restoration and revival.

During the past few months, Floyd has called together hundreds of pastors to join together in "extraordinary prayer," he said. The last gathering, at Geyer Springs Baptist Church in Little Rock, got together some 300 pastors to pray between eight to 10 hours a day, Arkansas Baptist State Convention President Archie Mason said.

"And just as Jonathan Edwards called for years ago, before the first Great Awakening, it's time for us to come together, it's time for us to have visible union, and it's time for us to come together in extraordinary prayer," Floyd said. "It's been over 100 years since the United States has experienced the last great, great movement of the Lord. We're overdue. It's past time. We must have that movement."

Only 71 percent of the 5,001 delegates, also known as messengers, cast ballots Tuesday.

The election was the second for Floyd, who was nominated for the spot in 2006 but lost to South Carolina pastor the Rev. Frank Page, who now serves as the CEO and president of the convention's executive committee. The Arkansas pastor was criticized at the time for his congregation not giving enough money to the denomination's Cooperative Program, which funds mission work.

In 2006, the congregation was giving less than 1 percent of its undesignated income to the denomination's Cooperative Program. Last year, Cross Church led the state's churches in contributions, giving more than $700,000 to the Cooperative Program.

Since the first election, Floyd has also served as a chairman of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, which was formed to make recommendations in restructuring how the denomination carries out and funds its missions.

During a news conference Tuesday, Floyd affirmed his desire to accelerate the pace of the Great Commission, or the spreading of the Gospel.

"We must penetrate the lostness of this nation and this world," he said. "We must get the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth."

How can Southern Baptists not be excited when the denomination has 10,000 missionaries worldwide committed to evangelizing and multiplying churches, he asked. How can they not be excited when the denomination has 16,000 ministers, and missionaries "being prepared" in seminaries ready to spread the Gospel, he asked.

They all have one story: reaching the world for Jesus Christ, Floyd said, "and that's who we are."

Every Monday, Floyd said he plans to write a blog, committed to the Southern Baptist Convention. The blog will help "tell the story of what God is doing across North America and across the world." The pastor asked the denomination to pray for him daily.

"I need desperately to be prayed for every day," he said. "I will represent the Lord. I will represent his word. I will represent Southern Baptists every day."

Floyd has served as a pastor at Cross Church for 27 years, when it was first known as the First Baptist Church of Springdale. During his tenure, the church has expanded to five campuses, including its most recent in Neosho, Mo. About 9,000 attend the weekly worship services and other ministry activities.

"The priority in my life has always been my family and the local church of Jesus Christ following them," he said. "I will be sure that I serve my fellowship as a priority. My staff team is more than ready to step up and ensure the next great year in Cross Church. I'll do my very best to be in the pulpit on Sundays."

Floyd said his election is a tremendous commendation for Cross Church and for the state. The first Arkansan to be a Southern Baptist Convention president was James Philip Eagle, who served for three years starting in 1903. He was also the state's 16th governor. Layman Brooks Hays was the second Arkansan to serve in 1958 and 1959.

"God has given them as a church a new responsibility, and it just calls us to higher accountability and to higher commitment," he said.

Mohler, who nominated Floyd, said the Arkansas pastor was a dependable leader and a "gifted and visionary pastor driven by the Gospel of Jesus Christ." At a time when the denomination is facing "great trial and urgency," Floyd would be the right leader.

Floyd's church has been a model to many in Arkansas, said Mason, president of Arkansas' convention, which includes 1,400 churches.

"He will lead our Southern Baptist Convention to be people of prayer, to be evangelistic, and to have a heart for missions," Mason said, adding that Floyd will help awaken the denomination. "Ronnie will unite all the churches and all the age groups."

Also Tuesday, the Southern Baptist Convention messengers publicly denounced government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries, as well as transgender identity.

The group has always stood against government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries because they "[perpetuate] a system of exploitation" and "provide a separate revenue source distinct from direct taxation." Government sponsorship of the institutions also perpetuates the mentality of getting something for nothing, which goes against Scripture, according to the resolution.

In a separate resolution, the group condemned transgender identity, saying gender identity is determined by biology not by choice. A 2011 survey showed that some 700,000 Americans were transgender, according to the resolution.

The group wanted to make clear its stance at a time when the cultural mindset is that gender is a choice, said the Rev. Russell Moore, president of the convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Both resolutions -- nonbinding statements of opinion -- passed without any messengers speaking for or against them.

Messengers also passed a resolution Tuesday, affirming the importance of Christ-centered education. The resolution shows the convention's support for parents to choose to which type of schools they will send their children.

A section on 06/11/2014