The South Carolina Baptist Convention Annual Meeting continued on Nov. 12 and included new business, elections for 2025 officers, and reports from SCBaptist ministry priority teams and ministry partners.  

SCBaptist President Wes Church announced that there were 608 registered messengers and 40 guests. He introduced Dr. Jamey Graham, the newly installed President of the Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention of South Carolina. “If we are going to hear, there must be a preacher. If there ever was a time we need preachers who are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the time is now,” Graham said. 

Messengers and guests also heard from Clint Pressley, President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). He expressed greetings from the SBC and shared that 2025 marks the centennial of the Cooperative Program. “This year is 100 years of cooperating. It is a celebration, an anniversary, and a miracle,” Pressley said. He emphasized his gratefulness for SCBaptists and thanked them for “looking outward” and focusing on “the greater goal of reaching folks for Christ.” 

Resolutions and 2025 Elections 

The Resolutions Committee presented six resolutions, including social calls to action regarding Christian-based drug rehabilitation, creating laws to protect parental rights, and encouraging SCBaptists to renew their commitment to God’s design for the family.  

SCBaptists unanimously voted for the 2025 Convention officers. Chuck Sprouse, pastor of Ninety Six First Baptist Church, will serve as the 2025 President. He was elected unanimously at the 2023 Annual Meeting as President-Elect and begins his term as President at the conclusion of the 2024 Annual Meeting. Mike McCormick, lead pastor of Berlin Baptist Church, nominated Randy Jackson, executive and college pastor of Northwood Baptist Church, as 2025 Registration Secretary.  

Bart Kelley, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Barnwell, nominated Mark Bishop, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Landrum, as 2025 Vice President. Of Bishop, Kelley said, “I have seen him grow into a wonderful man who leads his family and his church well.”  

Finally, Cory Horton, pastor of Brushy Creek Baptist Church, nominated Ryan Pack, pastor of Riverland Hills Baptist Church, as 2025 President-Elect. “He will be a good friend to our Convention,” Horton said. 

Reigniting Evangelistic Efforts 

Lee Clamp, SCBaptist Associate Executive Director-Treasurer, hosted a panel discussion on evangelism, which included Adam Venters, the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) Director at the University of South Carolina, Corey Watson, teaching pastor and evangelism director of First Baptist Simpsonville / Upstate Church’s Harrison Bridge campus, and Ed Stewart, pastor and planter of New Creation Baptist.  

Venters shared that Carolina BCM has a thriving collegiate ministry that reaches local and international students, and 29 students came to faith in Christ this school year. He emphasized that SCBaptists are often asking the wrong questions when it comes to reaching the next generation. “If you ask the right question, people will respond,” Venters said. “We see students come to know the Lord because we ask them good questions,” he shared, highlighting the need to relationally engage young people. 

First Baptist Simpsonville / Upstate Church was recently named by Outreach Magazine as the fastest growing church in the Southern Baptist Convention. Corey Watson, teaching pastor for their Harrison Bridge Campus, shared that the church set goals to “efficiently and effectively” reach the lost. “We set some goals over 2024 to have 3,600 intentional connections and connections 1,200 conversations about Jesus,” Watson said. He admitted that he was initially discouraged by the numbers he saw. “We know we should share the Gospel, but many of us don’t do it,” he said. He encouraged pastors to model evangelism in their personal lives, putting into practice what they preach. “We are in the business of equipping and empowering our people to think in drastically different ways about evangelism,” Watson said. Of the evangelism goals, he said the church has met 93% of their initial aim, with a “majority coming from our laypeople.” 

New Creation Baptist decided to replant after a season of decline. After years of no baptisms, the church saw 32 baptisms in one year. Pastor Ed Stewart emphasized the importance of having a presence in the community. “My conviction for the Woodfield Park Community is to go into the neighborhood, make connections and have conversations, and as you do that, listen to people,” Stewart said. “Jesus is the answer,” Stewart said, but the key to sharing the Gospel is “by being present.”   

Introducing the Give+Go Initiative 

In his address, SCBaptist Executive Director-Treasurer Tony Wolfe announced the Give+Go Initiative. “SCBaptists are giving it all we’ve got in 2025. We’re giving, and we’re going like never before,” he said. Wolfe shared that Give+Go is a holistic initiative that challenges SCBaptists to increase evangelistic engagement and Cooperative Program investment in 2025. In practice, he shared that the strategy is two-fold and involves a variety of preaching resources, events, videos, curriculum, and more to equip SCBaptists in sharing the Gospel and strengthening our cooperative mission. “SCBaptists are a generous people,” Wolfe said. “I believe that every resource we need to accomplish the mission that God has entrusted to us is already ours in Christ Jesus.” 

In his report for the Share Team and in conjunction with one of the strategies for Give+Go, Team Leader Chad Stillwell asked pastors to fill out a short survey about the evangelism plans of their churches. Stillwell committed that the Share Team and Convention staff would come alongside churches with resources and to help in any way possible. “We know that when the Gospel is shared, people are saved,” he said.  

Celebrating Disaster Relief’s Response to Hurricane Helene 

When Hurricane Helene swept across South Carolina in late September, few were prepared for the destruction it would bring. The intensity of the storm left many South Carolinians without power and widespread damage. In his report Jon Jamison, Serve Team Leader, commended the efforts of South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief, led by Director Susan Peugh. He shared that in the Hurricane Helene efforts, over 45,000 meals were prepared, 1,400 jobs were completed, at least 1,500 people served with a Disaster Relief team, 400 Gospel presentations were given, and 21 individuals “responded to the Gospel and found hope in Jesus.” He emphasized that “Hurricane Helene brought destruction, but SCBaptists brought hope.”  

Dr. JJ Washington, National Director of Personal Evangelism at the North American Mission Board, gave the message at the close of the session. “The messengers returned on Tuesday evening for the final session of the annual meeting.