Kyle Walker, senior pastor of Cartersville First Baptist Church, announced his intentions to nominate Jamar Andrews, senior pastor of Word Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Ark., as a candidate for president of the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Pastors’ Conference. Vance Pitman, senior pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas, also announced his intentions to nominate Matt Carter, lead pastor of Sagemont Church in Houston, for president in an email to Baptist Press. 

Nominations will take place Monday, June 14, during the Pastors Track of the Send Conference, hosted by the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board. The conference precedes the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting. The 2022 Pastors’ Conference will be held in conjunction with next year’s annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

Jamar Andrews

Walker said he and Andrews first connected over a decade ago, stating, “Jamar and I have been through life together as seminary students, co-workers, friends and now pastors. Nominating Jamar as president for our 2022 SBC Pastors’ Conference is the opportunity to uphold the arms of the man of God being called for this role at this hour. Convictional, courageous and compassionate leadership is needed like never before. Forged by these characteristics, Jamar is equipped to serve Southern Baptists and the Kingdom of God in a special way.”

Word Baptist Church was established in 2017 and has seen steady growth, including adding around 10% of its membership through baptism each year. The church has mission partnerships with churches in New Mexico and the Dominican Republic and will soon send a team to Japan.

According to Annual Church Profile (ACP) reports, the church recorded 157 members in 2020, with a worship attendance of 246. It gave $16,500 – 2.92% of undesignated receipts – through the Cooperative Program (CP).

Andrews’ local and national denominational involvement include preaching at the 2017 SBC Pastors’ Conference as well as delivering the convention sermon at the 2019 Arkansas Baptist State Convention Annual Meeting (ABSC). He currently serves as the second vice president for the ABSC, a trustee for Williams Baptist University in Walnut Ridge, Ark., and has previously served on the SBC Committee on Committees.

Andrews said the Pastors’ Conference holds a special place in his heart for the impact it’s had on him.

“When I was getting ready to go into ministry, I had never pastored before being at the convention in New Orleans,” he said. “And that time was such an encouraging time for me. And so, I would love to see that same process happen in California.”

He said he desires for the 2022 conference to be a source of encouragement and resources for pastors and pastors’ wives, adding, “I would love for this to be a place where brothers can come, hear expositional preaching, be encouraged, be equipped and have resources that are at their disposal. A place that they can come in and be renewed and be encouraged to go back out to their local churches and places where they are pouring their lives out and be renewed and encouraged to fight the good fight after coming off of a very difficult year.”

Andrews is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and holds a master of arts in Islamic Studies. He and his wife Stephanie are the parents of one daughter and one son. 

Matt Carter

Prior to becoming pastor at Sagemont in May 2020, Carter was the founding pastor of The Austin Stone Church in Austin, Texas. Under his leadership the church grew from a core team of 15 to a weekly attendance of more than 8,000 over six campuses. During his tenure, the church sent more than 300 full-time missionaries to unreached people groups worldwide.

According to the 2020 ACP report, Sagemont Church recorded 20,551 total members and gave $342,500 – 2.8% of undesignated receipts – to Southern Baptist missions and causes through the CP.

Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church near Memphis, described a message Carter delivered at Bellevue as “an excellent expository sermon that exalted Jesus as [Carter] walked through the text giving explanation and application. He is a seasoned pastor who loves the Lord, loves the lost and loves the Southern Baptist Convention. He is a man of God and he would lead us well as the president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference.”

Nathan Lorick, executive director-elect of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, called Carter “a phenomenal pastor, leader, preacher and friend.

“He loves the church and sacrificially invests in pastors. He is a great partner through the Cooperative Program and has a proven track record of planting churches and making disciples.”

Carter is the co-author of multiple books including Steal Away Home, a historical fiction piece based on the real-life story of Charles Spurgeon’s unlikely friendship with former-slave-turned-missionary Thomas Johnson. A graduate of SWBTS (master of divinity) and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (doctorate in expositional preaching), Carter and his wife of more than 20 years, Jennifer, have three children.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – The Arkansas Baptist News, arkansasbaptist.org, is the news journal of the Arkansas Baptist Convention. Scott Barkley is national correspondent for Baptist Press.)