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TEXAN: Why are you interested in serving as SBTC president?
Todd Kaunitz: I love the SBTC. It’s been a strong gospel representation for our denomination, and our affiliation has allowed New Beginnings to be a part of what God is doing in the state of Texas and around the world. I’ve known Dr. Lorick for 20 years, and a lot of my interest is in coming alongside of him during this pivotal season of transition, to offer any support that he might need. I also think that we are at a critical time in our convention nationally.
Being able to step in and be a unifying voice of influence and help us stay focused on the Great Commission—these are key ways I feel like I could be a help in a pivotal season with this opportunity. I also have some experience with helping create a vision and culture within an organization, and with the revisioning Dr. Lorick is working through, I believe some of my experience could be a help to him.
Why is your church affiliated with the SBTC, and what are some of the benefits you’ve experienced?
We believe in the Cooperative Program, and we believe that the Southern Baptist Convention as a whole has a platform for advancing the gospel both here in North America and around the world like no other entity in the world. For us, the reason we’re SBTC is because we believe in doctrinal unity. We align with the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, and that doctrinal alignment is important for us. And second would be the missional focus.
I love how intentional the SBTC is on the Great Commission. You can see that in the way that we distribute our funds and in how we respond to needs both in the state and around the world. We’re better together. New Beginnings benefits because we get to be a part of a bigger gospel movement than we could if we were just doing missions on our own. Personally, I’ve been able to build strong relationships, and some of the guys I dialogue with daily all over the state are SBTC pastors with whom I’ve built relationships. The moment we got in with the SBTC and aligned ourselves with that partnership, I developed friendships and a brotherhood with other pastors that has really breathed life into my ministry.
I see myself as bridging the gap between generations. We’ve got a lot of great godly leaders who have done great things in our past, and some great leaders rising up right now. I’m excited about that.
What will your platform be as president?
I feel like God has led me to build on some of the great things Kie Bowman has already started in regard to prayer. Kie has put our focus on prayer in a very strategic way, keeping it in front of us in the way he has led the state convention and at the annual meetings. Honestly, I feel like God has called me to be an extension of what Dr. Bowman has started, and my platform will be centered on challenging churches to pray. We want to become houses of prayer and offer experiences, gatherings and training to equip pastors to lead prayer movements in their churches.
What Dr. Bowman has started at the state level and what Dr. Ronnie Floyd is doing at the national level regarding prayer are exactly what we need at this moment in history. I am committed to spend my time in this role helping continue that emphasis by creating some additional strategy to go along with it. I think what we’re discovering in our churches coming out of this pandemic is that we’ve been working far too long in our own power. If there’s anything that 2020 and now 2021 have revealed to us, it’s that when times get hard, when pandemics come and when there’s social unrest, it reveals the true condition of the church. We are seeing that we have operated way too long in our own effort, and God is giving us an amazing opportunity to see a spiritual awakening that will not happen outside of God’s people praying.
As one of the younger pastors to be nominated as SBTC president, how would you represent the SBTC both to younger pastors and to more experienced pastors?
I believe the SBTC is the greatest state convention in the SBC, from the work that’s done and the leadership that we have at the SBTC, not to mention that fact that we have some of the strongest pastors and churches in the nation. The work Dr. Richards has done these past 20 plus years to build this convention is remarkable. He has done this with the partnership of a lot of seasoned pastors, men who have paved the way for younger guys like me and Dr. Lorick. We are in a season as a convention where there is a baton passing between generations. As a guy in his 40s, my desire is to honor and represent the strong foundation laid by those seasoned pastors who have gone before, and also to extend a hand toward those younger pastors who may not be as denominationally focused, or maybe they’re on the fence about what it means to be a part of this cooperative effort. It’s exciting to be able to stand on this strong foundation that’s been laid, but also to build upon it with this next generation of pastors who are going to bring innovative thoughts, new ideas and fresh ways to reach the culture.
One of the things we say quite often is that our mission never changes—it’s to reach people for Christ. That’s the heartbeat of the SBTC, to fulfill the Great Commission. But our methodology does shift. I see myself as bridging the gap between generations. We’ve got a lot of great godly leaders who have done great things in our past, and some great leaders rising up right now. I’m excited about that.
What would you say to pastors who are on the fence about denominational affiliation?
As a pastor who is in the trenches with SBTC life, I have never been more excited about our future, and I would encourage any pastor who is on the fence to recognize what God is doing in the SBTC. While there is a lot of noise right now at the national level, I don’t think those issues are as loud as social media makes them out to be. We have a lot of great leaders at the national level doing great work, and a lot of the things that people see on social media that get so much attention are a result of a very few people speaking to some of these issues with a volume that overplays what’s really going on.
At a state level, with Dr. Lorick and the vision that he’s bringing in, there has never been better a time to come together with a more unified strategic focus around the Great Commission. There is no organization, no network of churches, that is more primed and ready to meet the challenges of this coming generation than the SBTC. I would encourage those pastors by saying that we cannot let the enemy distract us. We need to come together and unify—and prayer is a large part of that—so we can keep our focus on what’s most important, which is the Great Commission. Now is the time to get more involved, and if you hear the focus of Dr. Lorick and what he wants this convention to become, I think it will bring a lot of excitement and unify us like never before.
