MACON, Ga. (ABP) — Directors of the independent news journal Baptists Today chose Jimmy Allen as their chair and honored outgoing chair Tommy Boland during their Sept. 22-23 meeting in Macon, Ga., where the national publication is headquartered.
Allen, of Big Canoe, Ga., is the former pastor of First Baptist Church of San Antonio, Texas, who served as Southern Baptist Convention president and president of the SBC Radio and Television Commission. Allen returned to the Baptists Today board after a year's absence, as did James Dunn of Winston-Salem, N.C.
Boland, who rotated off the board at the conclusion of the meeting, is a retired banking executive and member of Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Ga. He took over leadership of the board following the death of chair Jim McAfee in 2004. The board asked Boland to continue as an advisor during the next year.
Nannette Avery of Signal Mountain, Tenn., a lay leader in First Baptist Church of Chattanooga, was elected as vice chair of the board.
Five new directors were elected: James Evans of Auburn, Ala.; Allen Abbott of Lebanon, N.H.; Tom McAfee of Seabrook Island, S.C., son of Jim McAfee; Sarah Timmerman of Cairo, Ga.; and Clement White of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Directors also approved a plan to transition the current board of advisors to an “advocates” program with term rotations similar to the board of directors. The advocates program calls eventually for 24 representatives helping raise the visibility of the news journal and providing feedback from readers and supporters.
At the next meeting of the Baptists Today board, set for April 21-22 in Asheville, N.C., Cecil Sherman, former coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, will receive the 2006 Judson-Rice Award from Baptists Today.
— John Pierce is executive editor of Baptists Today.