A dean of theology in Zambia has been formally nominated as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference.
On Tuesday, Founders Ministries took to their website to announce that Voddie Baucham, the dean of theology at African Christian University in Zambia will be formally nominated for the role of Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference president. The nomination will take place during the SBC Pastor's Conference, an annual meeting of the denomination at Anaheim, California.
Founders Ministries, which made the exciting announcement on their website on Tuesday, are endorsed by a prominent group of Southern Baptists who raised concerns over the "woke" direction of America's largest Protestant denomination. The group said they are also looking to nominate Tom Ascol, the longtime senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida.
According to the Christian Post, Founders Ministries is a conservative group within the Southern Baptist Convention, where Baucham is a board member. The group's statement is endorsed by 11 high-profile Southern Baptists. Among them is Pastor Mike Stone, a member of the SBC Executive Committee, and the steering committee of the Conservative Baptist Network. Stone failed to make his bid for the SBC presidency when he lost in a runoff with Ed Litton last year.
The group said in a statement that they, "in one voice" nominate Ascol for President of the Southern Baptist Convention and Baucham for President of the SBC Pastors' Conference." They argued that the congregation "badly needs a change of direction." They acknowledged the "[continued] freefall [of] aptisms and evangelism," which is why they need leaders who could direct them "closer to the culture, from radical feminism masked as 'soft complementarianism' to the false gospel of Critical Theory and Intersectionality."
The group added that in Jesus Christ, "we are all made one." They argued that "Race Marxism" divides people in a "never-ending cycle of recrimination and hate." The group denounced the "worldly dogmas" and instead "proclaim the sufficiency of Scripture."
Baucham confirmed earlier this month that he was asked to accept a nomination for SBC president, but was unsure if he was eligible for the job. The 52 year old missionary said that according to Article VIII of SBC's constitution, officers must be "members of Baptist churches cooperating with this Convention." Baucham has been a member of the Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia since 2015, which is affiliated with the Reformed Baptists of Zambia, not the SBC.
Meanwhile, Ascol took to YouTube to share a statement announcing that he accepted the nomination because he felt the same concern over the direction that the denomination was going. He also expressed concern over how Southern Baptists such as himself were not being treated honestly and respectfully.
Ascol recounted how he witnessed other "faithful pastors and members of regular churches" had their concerns "dismissed without any serious consideration." He cited one incident in which the 2021 resolutions committee refused to come up with a "resolution on the incompatibility of critical race theory and intersectionality with the Baptist Faith and Message."
Ascol reported that the resolution had more than 1,300 signatures from faithful Southern Baptist pastors and church members, but the resolutions committee failed to consider it for a vote.
