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KBC exec. search team sets Feb. 15 deadline


LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — The Kentucky Baptist Convention committee tasked with finding Paul Chitwood’s successor as KBC executive director “has been hard at work” toward building “a large pool of names” to consider, said search committee chairman Tom James.

The committee is asking Southern Baptists to help them in that endeavor by recommending candidates by Feb. 15. Recommendations should include at least a candidate’s name and contact information, James told Baptist Press. If a resume is not included in the recommendation, James will contact the candidate and request one.

Chitwood served as KBC executive director from 2011-18 before being elected president of the International Mission Board Nov. 15.

“The committee hopes to have a large pool of names” to consider for KBC executive director, said James, pastor of Eastwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Ky., adding the committee has “been hard at work, praying and processing” information.

Qualified candidates, James said, should have “a call to ministry in some form or fashion,” at least a master’s degree (though a doctorate is preferred), “a proven track record in leadership” and comfort with preaching at Kentucky Baptist churches.

The search is not limited to Kentucky residents, but “in a perfect world, [candidates] would have some familiarity with Kentucky,” said James, a former KBC president.

The search committee met Jan. 3 at the KBC headquarters in Louisville, Ky., the Western Recorder newsjournal reported. The committee is scheduled to meet again Feb. 25.

The 15-member search committee comprises pastors and laypeople, men and women, and an ethnically diverse cross section of Kentucky Baptists from across the state.

“I thought it would be almost impossible to get everybody on the same page and thinking in the same direction,” James said. “But it’s been amazing to me that such a wide variety and cross section of people from across the state” have been unified to “find God’s man.”

Recommendations can be submitted to [email protected].

“We’re not going to drag our feet,” James said. “At the same time, we’re not going to rush the process.”