This article was featured in the May 2023 edition of The Baptist Courier. 

I am honored to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Gary Hollingsworth, who set the tone for servant-hearted leadership. I believe that we are about to experience the greatest season of Great Commission advance ever known. Our vision is relentless, forward-focused Great Commission cooperation to take ground for Christ’s kingdom.

We have an urgent message and a short time to accomplish our great task. We have mission fields to penetrate both locally and globally, a new generation of church leaders to train, and gospel work to do. God has entrusted us with 5.3 million South Carolinians and 8 billion global image-bearers.

Thankfully, we have 400,000 Baptists gathering in 2100 like-minded congregations, cooperating in 42 local associations, and working through an extensive network of like-minded Baptist institutions and organizations to accomplish our shared Great Commission objectives.

Our cooperation today will determine our effectiveness tomorrow and for decades to come. As the Apostle Paul said, King David “served God’s purpose in his own generation,” and then he fell asleep. One day, I want that said of me and of us. God’s purpose in our generation is to reach our neighbors and nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that South Carolina Baptists will remain unwaveringly focused on this mission as we enter a new season of Great Commission cooperation.

-Dr. Tony Wolfe, Executive Director-Treasurer