Brad Eubank, a pastor known for being a community leader and a sexual abuse survivor, will be nominated as first vice president when the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting convenes June 14–15 in Anaheim, California.
“In our current climate in [the SBC] we need strong voices to speak into institutional change regarding sexual abuse,” said Adam Wyatt, pastor of Corinth Baptist Church in Magee, Mississippi, who will nominate Eubank.
Eubank, pastor of Petal First Baptist Church since 2012, received the 2019 Bobby Runnels Leadership Award for community service in Petal. He previously served churches in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. He holds degrees from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and Beeson Divinity School of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Eubank met with SBC leaders in 2014 to promote a conference for sexual abuse survivors.
He detailed his abuse, which occurred when he was between the ages of 8 and 12. The perpetrator was the music minister at his own church in Mississippi.
“As Southern Baptists seek to address the horrifying realities outlined in the [Sexual Abuse] Task Force report, we must have leaders who are both biblically faithful and sensitive to the pleas from the survivor community for much-needed reforms,” Wyatt said in a press release May 31. Since his arrival, Eubank’s church increased its Cooperative Program giving from 3 to 10% and consistently surpasses its goals for the Lottie Moon Christmas and Annie Armstrong Easter offerings.
There is one other candidate for the same of-office: Victor Chayasirisobhon, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Anaheim. Nominations may also be made during the meeting.
