Daniel Dickard, pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, will be nominated for Pastors Conference president during this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Anaheim, California, June 14–15.
Jordan Easley, pastor of First Baptist Church Cleveland, Tennessee, announced he planned to nominate Dickard in a video released online March 16.
Easley noted that Dickard has a passion for the gospel, a desire to make disciples and a calling to encourage and equip pastors. Dickard leads a church that “emphasizes the Great Commission, cross-cultural ministry, church planting, theological training and refugee ministry,” said Easley, who pointed out his main reason for nominating Dickard is his love for the SBC.
“He was born in an SBC church. He was raised and discipled by faithful men and women in SBC churches,” Easley said. “His father is an SBC pastor. He was called to ministry in an SBC church.”
Easley later added, “He believes like so many of us believe that the SBC Pastors Conference should highlight the best of what it means to be a Southern Baptist. … But it should also be centered on our common mission and our shared cooperative effort.”
‘No greater calling’
Dickard said in written comments to Baptist Press, “There is no greater calling, in my opinion, than pastoring God’s people, and there is no weightier duty within that great calling than stewarding God’s word faithfully.
“It is not the size of a church that matters; it is the health and faithfulness of a church that matters,” he said. “The SBC Pastors Conference is one venue where pastors are edified, equipped and encouraged to be faithful to the Word and challenged in our mission to the world.
“My vision for the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference would be to highlight a wide swath of faithful SBC pastors, regardless of church size, age, shape and geographical scope, as we focus on the idea that character matters in ministry.”
Easley pointed out that Friendly Avenue Baptist “gave 10% of their offering to the Cooperative Program last year, and they’re committed to sharing the gospel in North Carolina and around the world,” Easley said.
Among his Southern Baptist ties, Dickard graduated from a Southern Baptist affiliated college, North Greenville University, and he received his master of divinity and doctorate from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
If elected, Dickard would serve as president of the 2023 Pastors Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 11–12.
Dickard is married to Cassie and they have three children.
