GREENSBORO, N.C. (ABP) — “I do not believe the convention elected me to somehow undo the conservative resurgence,” said Frank Page after he was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention June 13. “That's not who I am and that's not what they want.”
Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., said he has supported the conservative shift in the SBC and was an inerrantist before he knew what it meant.
“I believe in the Word of God,” he said. “I'm just not mad about it.”
Page won a three-way race for the president of the SBC, defeating two candidates endorsed by the leaders of the inerrantist movement that has controlled the SBC for 27 years.
While most observers said Page's election — two blocks from where he grew up in Greensboro, N.C. — represents a shift to a more open and inclusive SBC, Page indicated his appointments to leadership positions won't be much different.
In a press conference just after the election, Page said he will have four criteria in selecting people for SBC leadership positions: a sweet spirit, an evangelistic heart, belief in the integrity of the Word of God and support for the Cooperative Program, the SBC's unified budget.
Page said that he doesn't oppose those who currently serve in SBC positions, but believes that the same people shouldn't hold posts year after year. “I'm not talking about a revolution,” he said. “I'm not talking about cleaning house.”
Page said he believes that his election was not about him. Instead, Southern Baptists sent a message that they believe they can do more together than apart and that they want to broaden involvement in the causes of evangelism and missions, he said.
“I think this is a strong call from our people,” he said.
Page said he thinks that Baptist “bloggers,” who write online commentaries about Baptist issues, played a role in his election. He said that while the number of bloggers is small, a large number of Southern Baptist leaders read them.
“I believe they played a role beyond their number,” he said. “I would say they're a growing force and phenomenon in denominational life.”
Page said he thinks that his election signals the arrival of a different tone among Southern Baptists, one that echoes a deep appreciation of the past but also realizes that the future landscape has changed.
“I do think it's a defining moment,” he said. “I think it's a turning point.”
Page said he has told some younger leaders who are playing a larger role in Southern Baptist life that they need to realize that just because they demand something doesn't mean that they deserve it.
Regarding controversies at the two Southern Baptist mission boards, Page said the president has only a limited role to play. But, he said, he'd be willing to give encouragement and advice to the trustee boards that have authority for the agencies.
Page said the SBC annual meeting in the Greensboro Coliseum is near where he was raised. He was born in Robbins and became a Christian at Southside Baptist Church in Greensboro.
Page attended Gardner-Webb University and also served as pastor of Lafayette Baptist Church in Fayetteville in the 1980s.
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