ORLANDO, Fla. (BP) — Frank Page was elected as the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee June 14 in Orlando, Fla. A former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Page will succeed Morris H. Chapman, who is retiring after 18 years in the position.
Page, 57, most recently served as vice president of evangelization for the SBC’s North American Mission Board and was pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., for nine years and SBC president from 2006-08.
Randall James (right), an assistant pastor at First Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla., and SBC Executive Committee presidential search committee chairman, speaks with Frank Page, newly elected to the position of president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. (Photo by Baptist Press)
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Executive Committee members deliberated for nearly two hours in a closed session Monday afternoon before announcing a decision to call Page as president, and he accepted the role with “a great sense of destiny and awareness that God has a great future for Southern Baptists.”
Page told the Executive Committee his goal is that the group will be unified in its passion to see the world won to Jesus Christ, and he pledged to love the committee members and to work with all his might.
After Page emerged from the closed-door session with the Executive Committee members and while they were praying and taking the vote, he told reporters he answered some members’ questions regarding the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force report.
As a member of the task force, Page said he voiced deep concerns about some of the recommendations both to the task force and to the Executive Committee.
“But I do want to join our president in a call for a Great Commission Resurgence,’ Page said. “I believe that. I love Dr. [Johnny] Hunt and love his heart and want to see us do more to reach the nations for Christ.
“Everyone knows I’m a strong Cooperative Program supporter. I’ve said many times, not just in there but everywhere, ‘Just look at the record,’ “ Page told reporters. “While a lot of people talk about the Cooperative Program, I’ve been raising millions through it because I do believe in it. I believe in what it does in the states. I believe in what it does in supporting missions.”
A native of Robbins, N.C., Page holds a Ph.D. in Christian ethics focusing on moral, social and ethical issues from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, along with a master of divinity degree from Southwestern. He earned a bachelor of science degree with honors from Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina, majoring in psychology with minors in sociology and Greek.
Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press.