Stoney Benfield, pastor at Prospect Baptist Church in Albemarle, N.C., will be nominated to serve as president of the 2022 N.C. Pastors’ Conference at this year’s event. 

“Benfield is a great leader here in North Carolina and he is leading Prospect well,” said Scott Faw, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Salisbury, N.C. 

Faw, who serves as a member of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s (BSC) board of directors, said he intends to make the nomination. He described Benfield’s leadership at Prospect as having spurred significant growth in attendance across weekend and weekday worship services.

“My vision for the 2022 N.C. Pastors’ Conference, if elected, is to exhort, encourage and equip pastors to engage in the priority of the New Testament pastor’s calling, which is ‘to give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word’ as found in Acts 6:4,” Benfield said. 

“Pastors today are under tremendous pressure to perform and be something that the Bible never intended and it is essential that as God’s called shepherds, we maintain and pursue these priorities above all else.”

According to BSC records, Prospect gave $26,667 to the Cooperative Program in 2020, along with $4,789 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions and $3,000 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions. The church said it gave $13,200 to its local association, $3,400 to the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina and more than $47,000 to other missions and ministry efforts, including local outreach to people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Benfield, a North Carolina native, has served as Prospect’s pastor since 2005. Prior to his tenure at Prospect, he served as associate pastor at Tri-City Baptist Church in Conover, N.C., for seven years.

Benfield currently serves as a steering council member of the Conservative Baptist Network. Prospect’s website said Benfield “has a passion for preaching and evangelism, a heart for pastors, and takes an uncompromising stand on the Word of God.” He and his wife Missy have six children and one grandchild.

There were no other announced candidates for 2022 N.C. Pastors’ Conference president at the time of publication. Pastors’ Conference officer elections usually occur two years in advance of the term. However, due to last year’s event cancelation, 2022 officer elections are now expected to occur at the 2021 N.C. Pastors’ Conference, which will take place in conjunction with the state convention’s annual meeting on Nov. 8-9 in Greensboro, N.C.

The event’s 2021 officers are president Roger Barnes, vice president Allen Murray, and treasurer John Campbell.