I suppose you saw the Maundy Thursday special by Baptist Press: David Crosby to be SBC presidential nominee.
Crosby is pastor of a non-megachurch, one that is above the average Cooperative Program giving percentage: First Baptist New Orleans. One could almost sense that someone like him was sure to be offered as an alternative to the two mega-pastors whose churches give below the average CP percentage.
Crosby’s church is at 7% which is above the SBC average of 5.5%. The BP story doesn’t include any Great Commission Giving percentage for the church but says “total mission giving” (mission spending that includes both SBC and non-SBC causes) is 22%.
While the label of “Cooperative Program candidate” is mine, the pastor’s statement to BP about his nomination included the term “cooperation” four times and “Cooperative Program” one time. I think we get the thrust here. The other two candidates are well below the SBC average CP percentage.
We’ve got three presidential candidates:
- One old-school mega-church, mega-pastor, Steve Gaines.
- One new-school mega-church, mega-pastor, J. D. Greear.
- One above average CP, large church pastor, David Crosby.
I like it! I think the more diversity the better. But it just increases the chance of multiple votes, if no one gets 50 percent the first way around. Makes me wonder if there will be another nomination.
I’ll have to peruse through some archives, but I wonder what the record for number of nominees in a single year is.
The last year where there were 3 major candidates was when Bryant Wright was elected. Two other candidates got significant votes and a fourth got a single digit percentage.
There were three when Page narrowly won the first time too. He had more votes than either but as I remember he barely met the 50% + 1 vote to avoid run off .
Frank Page
Ronnie Floyd
Jerry Sutton
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)–Frank Page, pastor First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention June 13 by messengers to the SBC’s annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C.
In a three-candidate race, Page on the first ballot defeated Ronnie Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark., and Jerry Sutton, pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn.
Of the 8,961 votes cast, Page received 4,546 votes, or 50.48 percent.
http://www.bpnews.net/23449/frank-page-elected-sbc-president
David R. Brumbelow
My memory was right! Thanks David B.!
I attended First Baptist New Orleans back when I was studying at NOBTS. Dr. Crosby is a great guy and I’m glad he was nominated.