SBTC re-elects three, fills one vacancy

PLANO?Messengers to the SBTC annual meeting re-elected three officers and elected a fourth for first term.

Re-elected without opposition were Chris Osborne, pastor of Central Baptist, College Station, president, Bill Sutton, pastor of First Baptist Church, McAllen, second vice president, and Brenda Wills of First Baptist Church, Fort Worth, recording secretary.

Ed Ethridge, director of missions for North Texas Baptist Association, succeeded Garland pastor David Galvan of Primera Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida, who completed his second term as first vice president. Ethridge received 299 votes over Gil Lane of Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo who received 123 votes.

In nominating Osborne, Steve Swofford, pastor of First Baptist of Rockwall, told of his own son coming under Osborne’s teaching while a student at Texas A&M.

“Do you know what it does to you when your son goes away to a college church and talks more about his preacher’s sermons than yours and (he) preaches out of the Greek New Testament?” Swofford quipped.

Noting that the College Station church has grown from about 300 to nearly 3,500 during Osborne’s tenure, baptizing more than 100 people each year and strongly supporting the Cooperative Program, Swofford said, “A man who does that and preaches from his Greek New Testament hasn’t got time to be a good president. But, that’s what we need?a man who puts God, his Word and the church in its rightful position. He doesn’t just talk about it, but leads out in doing it.”

Rocky Weatherford of Dallas commended Ethridge, the first vice president, for his leadership in the conservative resurgence on the national and state levels. “This is a man who believes in the inerrant, infallible Word of God and preaches with great passion and conviction,” Weatherford said.

Sutton’s son, Brian Sutton of Calvary Baptist Church in Tyler, renominated his father, expressing gratitude for his dad’s sharing his faith with others. “He believes God’s Word is inerrant without any fault or error and lives it every day in his life.”

Messengers approved Fielder Road Baptist Church, Arlington, for the Nov. 12-13, 2007 annual meeting. Swofford was elected to give next year’s convention sermon with Randy Davis, pastor at Lifeway Fellowship Baptist Church, Amarillo, as the alternate.