Messengers to the Baptist General Association of Virginia elected Mark Croston of Suffolk as the first African-American officer in the BGAV's 181-year history at the annual meeting in Roanoke.
Croston, pastor of East End Baptist Church in Suffolk, was elected second vice president to succeed Virginia Chisholm Carroll of Louisa.
Attorney Richard Smith of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church was elected president to succeed Don Davidson, pastor of Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Danville.
Bert Browning, pastor of Huguenot Road Baptist Church in Richmond, succeeds Smith as first vice president.
Messengers also re-elected Frederick J. Anderson, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, to a 23rd term as clerk.
Staff report