Two weeks ago, we posted our vision for the SBC Pastor’s Conference. The reception has been positive and encouraging beyond what we could have hoped. Our vision alters the focus of the conference from big names and big production to a theme that’s exegetically driven and carried out by a diverse group of pastors whose church size most of us can relate to.
The first step in seeing this vision come to fruition is electing someone who shares this vision Pastor’s Conference president during this year’s meeting, June 12-13 in St. Louis.
For that role, we intend to nominate Dave Miller, Pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa, for President of the Pastor’s Conference. Dave is a lifelong Southern Baptist, having seen the Convention experience the Battle for the Bible and standing with us as we battle for our missions and ministry work to this day. His pastoral work has been with the churches that are the majority of the Southern Baptist Convention in size and field.
Dave is a lifelong supporter of international missions, from his childhood as a Foreign Mission Board missionary kid to leading his church in engaging an unreached people group. He pastors in what we once called a “new work” state, which has brought him wisdom about how Southern Baptists can minister in cultures where we are no longer the majority.
Dave Miller has served our Convention as a Second Vice President. He is experienced with new media through blogging, both on his own and in the well-known SBCVoices.com blog. This engagement has brought hard-won wisdom about dealing with upstart voices and controversial viewpoints.
With his experience, with his commitment to the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, with his love for Southern Baptists, and his desire to see pastoral ministry thrive, Dave is an obvious choice to lead the Pastor’s Conference in the vision that we’ve proposed.
We understand there will be numerous challenges: logistical, financial, and others. Our group, Voices for a New Baptist Future, is committed to helping Dave meet those challenges and overcome them. Together, we’ll see another successful & encouraging Pastor’s Conference in 2017, this time with a slightly different flavor, but one we think will be just as edifying as what we’ve seen in the past.
Signed,
Voices for a New Baptist Future
