LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–Jim Wells will be nominated to serve another term as registration secretary for the Southern Baptist Convention, Paul Purvis, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Forsyth, Mo., announced June 16.
Wells, who was first elected to the post in 2002, is director of missions for the Tri-County Baptist Association in southwest Missouri and a member of Hopedale Baptist Church in Ozark.
“Jim is not only a close personal friend, he is also a godly example of the kind of servant leadership we need in our denomination,” said Purvis, who will serve as chairman of the Tellers Committee during the June 23-24 SBC annual meeting in Louisville, Ky. “I have grown to know and love Jim through his service as our director of missions.
“Jim has served our convention in this position faithfully and willingly since 2002. He understands that the strength of our convention is the local church, and thus he is a champion of the local church pastor.
“During the past year, Jim led our association through a period of prayerful and thoughtful evaluation, which resulted in a complete restructuring of our ministry. As a result, we are better positioned as a Great Commission association,” Purvis added. “Jim has an unwavering commitment to God’s Word, but he leads with grace and a Christ-like spirit. It gives me great joy to commend him once again to our denomination.”
The Tri-County Baptist Association, which Wells has led for nine years, received the “Church Planting Association of the Year” award in 2004 from the Missouri Baptist Convention.
Wells previously pastored Oakwood Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., for 16 years, leading the church to increase its Cooperative Program giving from 8 percent to more than 16 percent of undesignated receipts. He was in the pastorate more than 32 years.
Wells has been a member of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s executive board and the SBC Executive Committee and has served on numerous committees at the associational, state and national levels.
A Missouri native, Wells holds a master of divinity degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., along with degrees from Hannibal-LaGrange College and Central Missouri State University.
He and his wife Judy have one daughter, Dana.
Information for Hopedale Baptist Church from Southern Baptists’ Annual Church Profile survey for the most recent year, 2008, lists 28 baptisms and primary worship service attendance of 340. The church gave $25,642, or 4.5 percent, through the Cooperative Program from total undesignated receipts of $568,829. According to the ACP, the church gave $10,513 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $2,410 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
Jim Wells is the only announced candidate for the registration secretary position.
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Compiled by Mark Kelly, an assistant editor at Baptist Press.
