INDIANAPOLIS (BP) — It has been announced that Chris Bolt, pastor of theology and apologetics at Village Church in North Chesterfield, Va., will be nominated to be the 2025 SBC Pastors’ Conference president.

Noah Hicks, planter/pastor of The Church at River Mills in Athens, Ala., will nominate Bolt.

“Pastor Chris has been a constant mentor to me since I was a student in high school exploring God’s calling on my life to pastoral ministry down to this day as a church planter/pastor,” said Hicks. “He has been and is a persevering and faithful pastor to the local church through the various seasons and struggles of church life in a revitalization context.” 

Prior to his role at Village Church, Bolt was teaching pastor at Elkton Baptist Church in Elkton, Tenn., and head of theology at Legacy Bible College in Huntsville, Ala., which has since become the interdenominational Huntsville Theological Institute.

A lifelong Southern Baptist, Bolt has spent 10 years as a pastor in revitalization efforts of Southern Baptist churches in Alabama and Tennessee. Bolt, married with four children, also holds Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In the Annual Church Profile (ACP) report for 2023, Village Church received $1,430,000 in undesignated gifts, with $10,000 (.7%) given through the Cooperative Program. The church also reported a $56,000 gift to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Village Church listed a weekly worship attendance of 725 and 35 baptisms last year.

“Chris is a pastor who seeks to serve Christ and His church all for Christ’s glory and will serve our convention well as the Pastors’ Conference President in 2025,” Hicks said. 

The 2024 SBC Pastors’ Conference is scheduled for June 9-10, 2024, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. The 2025 conference will be June 8-9 in Dallas. The only other known candidate for 2025 conference president is Georgia Pastor Brad Whitt.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Scott Barkley is national correspondent for Baptist Press.)