From ROGER ALFORD, The Christian Index
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Envoys from the Georgia Baptist Convention elected four new vice presidents at their annual meeting Tuesday in Augusta.
Rubén Torres, pastor of the Iglesia Bautista Victoria en Cristo, was elected first vice-president; Anthony Wilson, bivocational pastor of Church 180 in Hampton, as second vice president; Steve Taylor, senior pastor of McConnell Memorial Church in Hiawassee, as third vice president; and David Lambert, pastor of First Baptist Church in Thomson, as fourth vice president.
“These are all great brothers,” said newly elected President Josh Saefkow. “You will serve the Baptists well in Georgia.”
Torres was a pastor in both Puerto Rico and Georgia. He was saved as a college student and answered a call to ministry in 1984. He received a veterinary medicine degree in Mexico before earning a master’s degree from Luther Rice Seminary and a doctorate from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
In the past, Torres also served as interim director of the Puerto Rico Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served on NAMB task forces and was the former director of the Jonesboro Extension Center at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
In 2021, Victoria en Cristo donated just over $7,000 through the cooperative program and an additional $2,778 to Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon. For the past three years, the church has also funded SEND Toronto church planters, Alex and Indira Fleming.
Torres is involved in service partnerships in Honduras, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama and Cuba. He has helped plant more than 10 churches in Cuba over the past 22 years>
Torres and his wife Glenda have been married for 33 years and have one adult daughter.
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Wilson is a member of the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee and President of the African American Fellowship of Georgia Baptists. He is also the chaplain of the Georgia Department of Corrections.
A native of Atlanta, Wilson was ordained in 2001 and called to minister at New Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Forest Park, where he served until 2005. Back then, he helped found what is now Church 180, which has about 50 people on Sunday mornings and has provided between $180 and $555 each year through the collaborative program for the past five years. The Church has also donated between $300 and $850 each year to Mission Georgia for the past five years.
Wilson received his bachelor’s degree from DeVry University, a Master of Arts in ministry from Luther Rice Seminary, and is working on his Ph.D. in organizational leadership at Luther Rice.
Wilson has three sons, one of whom is deceased, and one granddaughter.
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Steve Taylor is the senior pastor at McConnell Memorial Church in Hiawassee.
Taylor has led the Hiawassee Church for the past eight years and has served for more than 34 years.
A graduate of Western Carolina University, Taylor began his career as a public school teacher and coach before moving to the parish. With a Masters of Divinity degree from Gardner-Webb University, he has led churches in western North Carolina, upstate South Carolina and northern Georgia.
At the McConnell Memorial, Taylor has led the church to donate 12.5% of its budget to Great Commission causes, including 5% — $70,000 — made available through the cooperative program last year.
Taylor’s church has baptized more than 130 people since his arrival.
Taylor is a member of the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee and Chair of the Church Membership Committee.
Taylor and his wife Desi have two children and five grandchildren.
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Lambert knows the Georgia Baptist Convention well, having served on the Executive Committee.
He received his PhD from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He received his bachelor’s degree from Belmont University and his master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
First Baptist Thomson spent 5.4% of unrestricted revenue through the cooperative program last year. That was more than $48,000. Total Church donations to state, national, and international missions last year exceeded $120,000.
Lambert has baptized more than 80 people and added 150 new members since becoming a pastor of First Baptist Thomson.
Lambert and his wife Julia have one daughter, Abby.
