ORLANDO, Fla.?Unity around the gospel and a new image before the world are priorities the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee will pursue when he takes office in October. "My hope is that we can have a unified voice at every level, hope that there will be a strong encouragement to do missions more than we've ever done before," Frank Page declared in a news conference on June 15.

Asked how he viewed receiving only 60 percent of the vote of Executive Committee members after several hours of closed-door discussion on June 14, Page responded, "It says to me that we're a very divided group of persons. I think that which we see on the Executive Committee is indicative of what's happening in our convention?that we have multiple opinions and are very free to voice those multiple opinions, sometimes very vocally, very strongly."

Knowing that trust comes over time, Page said he is hopeful that a consistently positive and unified vision will build confidence in others.

"I think I have a track record of encouraging people in 'followship'?that's a part of leadership. I would hope those that may not have been initially voting for me realize that I can be a partner with whom they can work."

Calling it a "mostly civil meeting," Page said EC members realized they were able to express their opinions, be honest and receive answers to their questions.

Page, 57, most recently served as vice president of evangelization for the North American Mission Board, was pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., for nine years, and SBC president from 2006-08.

The pastorate gave him experience with "a complicated church filled with multiple subgroups of agendas much like the Southern Baptist Convention." Having seen God bring about a transformation in a local church context, Page said in his new role of working with EC members, "I would work hard to bring about unity within that body."

Evangelism will be encouraged as Southern Baptists unite around the common cause of reaching the world for the Lord Jesus Christ, he said in addressing his priorities.

"It is my goal that if God were to allow me to serve for 10 to 15 years, that our nation particularly and our world generally would be able to say, 'You know, Baptists are good people. We may not always agree with them but we've changed our mind about who they are,'" having seen them as godly, loving, caring people who help their neighbors instead of judging them by what they are against, he explained.

Page said he hopes to establish a long-term vision for Southern Baptists while working with those elected to the office of president.

"Perhaps the CEO is a little more behind the scenes than the president, and I've served in that role so I understand that, but I do believe the president and CEO has a crucial role in establishing a long-term vision and as a leader of the Great Commission Council [he] helps pull together a unified group who can work together to see the Great Commission accomplished."

Reiterating his desire to unify, Page said, "I want to be someone who comes in in a collegial atmosphere, not adversarial in the GCC, for example, to pull them together in a common direction. I think Baptists are way past being tired of hearing about fusses and turf wars and those kinds of things," he added, crediting SBC president Johnny Hunt for trying to "pull us together."

Asked if he sees the EC president as "first among equals" in setting a vision within that group of SBC entity leaders, Page said, "I think he is the primary coordinator of that group and so he certainly needs to share his vision with those persons. Certainly they don't work for the CEO. We work together and the CEO is a coordinating leader in that regard."

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