JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — The Missouri Baptist
Convention (MBC) Executive Board met in special session Jan. 14 and appointed a
subcommittee that will recommend members of an executive director search
committee.
The information was released in a press statement following
the closed-door session.
The convention had been without an executive director since
Jan. 6 when David Tolliver tendered his resignation. The MBC noted the
resignation in a Jan. 7 press release, saying the resignation was due to
“immoral behavior.”
The five men on the subcommittee charged with picking
members of the search committee and recommending their slate when the Executive
Board meets in regular session on April 12 are all from the southwestern area
of Missouri. They include Monte Dunn, pastor, Pleasant View Baptist Church,
Highlandville; John Marshall, MBC president and pastor, Second Baptist Church,
Springfield; Jim Wells, director of missions, Tri-County Baptist Association,
Nixa; Denny Marr, associate minister, Calvary Baptist Church, Republic; and
Jody Shelenhamer, a Bolivar businessman and member of Wellspring Baptist
Fellowship, Bolivar.
The Executive Board unanimously named Jay Hughes, 40,
associate executive director of support services since April 2009, as the
interim executive director. A week earlier, Hughes had been named temporary
interim. Hughes joined the staff in July 2003 as MBC controller.
The Monroe, La., native earned a bachelor’s degree in
accounting in 1992 and a master’s degree in business administration in 1993
from Louisiana Tech University. He is a certified public accountant and a
former accounting firm partner in Monroe. Hughes and his wife, Niki, and their
two daughters are members of Memorial Baptist Church in Jefferson City. He
serves as a deacon.
“I humbly accept this appointment by the Executive Board,”
Hughes said after the meeting. “Please pray for me and the MBC staff as we move
forward together. I am grateful for the great team at the MBC.”
Tolliver, 60, had served as the chief executive officer of
the convention of about 2,000 churches (600,000 member) since February 2009.
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