GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)–Jimmy Jackson, pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville, Ala., will be nominated for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, former Alabama pastor Fred Wolfe announced June 1.
Wolfe, in announcing that he will nominate Jackson during the SBC annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C., described Jackson as “a wise, mature, experienced leader. He is a Christian gentleman, a real denominational statesman. He is a man of humility.”
Jackson has been Whitesburg’s pastor for 28 years and is a trustee of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He has been one of the SBC’s parliamentarians for 20 years and is a former member of the SBC Executive Committee. He is the current second vice president of the Alabama Baptist Convention and a former trustee at the University of Mobile.
“If, for some reason, the president of the SBC was unable to continue serving, Dr. Jackson could provide the great leadership needed for our convention,” said Wolfe, now of Canton, Ga., who leads Barnabas: A Ministry of Encouragement. Wolfe is a former chairman of the SBC Executive Committee.
“I do not nominate him against anyone, but for the office itself for which I believe he is greatly equipped and gifted by God,” Wolfe said.
To date, one other nominee has been announced for SBC first vice president: evangelist Keith Fordham of Fayetteville, Ga.
Information for Whitesburg Baptist Church from Southern Baptists’ Annual Church Profile survey for the most recent year, 2005, lists 194 baptisms and primary worship service attendance of 1,652. The church gave $235,000, or 4.3 percent, through the Cooperative Program from total undesignated receipts of $5,404,780. According to the ACP, the church’s total mission expenditures were $673,167, including $215,000 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $85,000 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
Wolfe added, “Under Dr. Jackson’s leadership at Whitesburg, Sunday School average attendance has grown from 900 in 1978 to over 2,100 in 2005. During [Jackson’s] 28 years, the church has baptized over 5,000 people.”
A native of Greenwood, Miss., and a graduate of Mississippi College, Jackson holds a divinity degree and a Ph.D. in Hebrew and Old Testament from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Jackson and his wife of 46 years, Bobbi, have two grown children and five grandchildren.
–30—
