RICHMOND — Carl Johnson, a Richmond layman currently serving as first vice president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, will be nominated in November as president of the state association, it was confirmed Sept. 24.
If elected, Johnson, who retired in 2000 as chief financial officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, would succeed Mark Croston, pastor of East End Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va.
Carl Johnson
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Jim Somerville, pastor of First Baptist Church in Richmond, said in a statement he will nominate Johnson — a member of his church — at the BGAV meeting scheduled for Nov. 13-14 in Roanoke.
“As Carl’s pastor I have had an opportunity to observe his gifts for leadership from a front-row seat,” said Somerville. “I’ve watched the way he handles the meetings of our endowment board, always anticipating the questions that might arise and having ready answers.
“As former treasurer of the International Mission Board Carl is completely unintimidated by big numbers: he can talk about a million dollars the way some people talk about a hundred,” he said. “At the same time, he is not careless with money; he wants to make sure every penny is either well-invested or well-spent. The evidence of his attention to detail is in the level of trust he has earned. I have rarely heard anyone question Carl’s grasp of a situation and never heard anyone question his motives.
“There is a certain, indefinable quality of leadership, and Carl has it. At a church business meeting, when people are wondering how to vote, they often look around the room for someone they can trust and vote the same way. At First Baptist Church, I often see people looking in Carl Johnson’s direction.”
Johnson, 75, was BGAV president in 1987 and would be the first person since 1944 to serve more than one term in the BGAV’s top elected office. That isn’t at odds with bylaw provisions, which only restrict incumbents from immediately succeeding themselves.
Johnson’s election would be consistent with a more than 50-year-old practice of rotating the BGAV presidency between ministers and laypersons — a well-established tradition that isn’t required by bylaws. Though a long-time denominational employee, Johnson is not ordained to the ministry. Before joining the staff of the International Mission Board in 1979, he was an executive with a Richmond real estate firm for 11 years.
Since 2000, serving BGAV first vice presidents have been nominated — and invariably elected — to serve as the state association’s president — another tradition that isn’t mandated by bylaws. The practice was established to enhance the experience of BGAV presidents, whose terms are restricted to one year.
Johnson holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees and an honorary doctorate — all in business — from the University of Richmond, on whose board of trustees he has served. He currently is a member of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board and has been active in both the Baptist World Alliance and the Richmond Baptist Association.
He has been president of the endowment board of First Baptist, Richmond, for more than 20 years and is a former chair of the church’s board of deacons.
He and his wife, Douglas, have a grown daughter.
At this point, Johnson is the only announced candidate for president. Earlier this month, it was announced that Moseley, Va., pastor Lee Ellison will be nominated for first vice president.
Robert Dilday ([email protected]) is managing editor of the Religious Herald.