HOSCHTON, Ga. — Ray Newman,
ethics and religious affairs specialist for the Georgia Baptist Convention,
will be nominated as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention,
a Georgia evangelist announced April 16.
BP photo Ray Newman |
Tommy Fountain, who also is director of missions for Mulberry Baptist
Association in Hoschton, Ga., said he will nominate Newman for the post during
the SBC’s June 15-16 meeting in Orlando, Fla.
Fountain cited Newman’s stand on moral issues as the basis for the nomination.
“In a time of moral and spiritual decline in our nation, Southern Baptists need
the voice of a Ray Newman,” Fountain said. “For the past several years, Newman
has stood for moral rectitude and righteousness under the gold dome of the
Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta.”
In addition to his responsibilities with the Georgia Baptist Convention, Newman
serves as a trustee of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission. For the past seven years, he has written a weekly column for the
Barrow County News titled “From Where I Stand.”
Newman is in his 50th year in ministry, the past 21 of those years as a state
missionary for Georgia Baptists. He served as a pastor for nearly 30 years.
John Killian, vice president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention and pastor
of Maytown (Ala.) Baptist Church, said, “I do not know of a better man, more
qualified to serve our convention than Ray Newman. With his experience in
ministry and his knowledge of the current political issues, Ray is the man for
this office.”
A native of Phenix City, Ala., Newman and his wife of 45 years, Gwen, reside in
Winder, Ga. They have one son and four grandchildren. The Newmans are members
of North Metro First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville.
Information from the 2009 Annual Church Profile for North Metro First Baptist
Church lists 110 baptisms and primary worship service attendance of 2,129. The
church gave $376,014, or 12.99 percent, through the Cooperative Program from
total undesignated receipts of $2,892,419. According to the ACP, the church
also received $16,185 for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International
Missions and $10,575 for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American
Missions.
Newman is the first announced nominee for SBC second vice president this year.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Compiled by Joe Westbury, managing editor of The Christian
Index, newsjournal of the Georgia Baptist Convention, and Baptist Press
assistant editor Mark Kelly.)