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South Carolina pastor Frank Page joins contest for SBC presidency
June 05, 2006
By BP Staff
South Carolina pastor Frank Page confirmed May 19 he would allow his name to be placed in nomination for president of the Southern Baptist Convention to set forth a choice in cooperative missions methodology.
"It is so," he told Baptist Press. "I can certainly confirm that I am going to allow my name to be recommended in Greensboro," where the SBC's June 13-14 annual meeting will be held.
Asked his reasons for entering the race, Page said, "Obviously, number one, is, I have a peace from the Lord about it, that I have been seeking and did not have until this morning, that it was OK [to be a nominee]."
Second, he said, "I think it is healthy for our convention to have a choice. ...
"It is [a choice] about methodology," Page said. "I just believe that it's time for people to not only say they support the work of Southern Baptists, but to show it. And I hope that my candidacy will bring that discussion to light."
Page has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., the past five and a half years. "Our church gives more than 12 percent to the Cooperative Program and we have a huge missions program on top of that, so we believe that one can do both. And I think that's a model that I would like for people to be able to consider."
The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists' channel for supporting state, national and international missions and ministry.
Page said he had not yet determined who will place his name in nomination at the convention
Page has served on the executive boards of the South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina state Baptist conventions. He is the author of a book titled, "Trouble with the Tulip: A Closer Examination of the Five Points of Calvinism," released in 2000 by Riverstone Group Publishing.
The church gave $534,683, or 12.4 percent, through the Cooperative Program from total undesignated receipts of $4,297,861. According to the ACP, the church's total mission expenditures were $1,461,950, including $161,527 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $62,726 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
Page earned a Ph.D. in Christian ethics from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in 1980 and an M.Div. there in 1976. He and his wife, Dayle, have three grown daughters. (BP)
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