(RNS) — A North Carolina pastor who championed sex abuse reforms in the Southern Baptist Convention plans to run for president of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.Bruce Frank, longtime pastor of Biltmore Church in Asheville, announced Tuesday (April 2) that he would allow his name to be placed for nomination at the SBC’s annual meeting this summer in Indianapolis.
“As the largest missionary force in modern-day history, I believe the best days of the SBC can be ahead of us,” said Frank in announcing his candidacy, saying that as president he would focus on evangelism, abuse reform and revitalizing churches.
Frank will enter a crowded race for the presidency — a volunteer role that oversees the denomination’s annual meeting and helps influence nominations for key SBC committees.
The SBC presidency is also a bully pulpit, with the president becoming the public face of the 13 million-member denomination during their term in office. Most SBC presidents — like current president and Texas pastor Bart Barber — have served two consecutive one-year terms.
The Rev. Bruce Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church of Arden, N.C., speaks during a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee on Sept. 21, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (RNS photo/Bob Smietana)
Frank will join fellow North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley, Oklahoma pastor Mike Keahbone, Tennessee pastor Jared Moore and seminary professor David Allen as candidates.
Those other four candidates recently took part in an online forum, where much of the conversatio …
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“As the largest missionary force in modern-day history, I believe the best days of the SBC can be ahead of us,” said Frank in announcing his candidacy, saying that as president he would focus on evangelism, abuse reform and revitalizing churches.
Frank will enter a crowded race for the presidency — a volunteer role that oversees the denomination’s annual meeting and helps influence nominations for key SBC committees.
The SBC presidency is also a bully pulpit, with the president becoming the public face of the 13 million-member denomination during their term in office. Most SBC presidents — like current president and Texas pastor Bart Barber — have served two consecutive one-year terms.
The Rev. Bruce Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church of Arden, N.C., speaks during a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee on Sept. 21, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (RNS photo/Bob Smietana)
Frank will join fellow North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley, Oklahoma pastor Mike Keahbone, Tennessee pastor Jared Moore and seminary professor David Allen as candidates.
Those other four candidates recently took part in an online forum, where much of the conversatio …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]