GREENSBORO, N.C. — Less than a month after being named the next leader of the Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH) of North Carolina, incoming CEO David Melber met with N.C. Baptists and addressed them for the first time during this year’s Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s annual meeting.

Melber interacted with attendees during two informal meet-and-greet times at the BCH booth in the exhibit hall, and he addressed messengers from the main stage on Tuesday, Nov. 5, during that morning’s business session at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center.

“My wife Tera and I could not be more humbled, more excited and more privileged to come join your churches as we’re on mission together to take the gospel to the least of these, to the vulnerable across this state and beyond, so that they would come to know Jesus Christ as King Jesus in their lives,” Melber said in his brief remarks.

“You have been a faithful steward of this ministry. It’s through your support — your sacrificial giving, your sacrificial serving — that Baptist Children’s Homes exist. We look forward to carrying on that tradition to make much of Jesus among all the staff, to make Jesus known among all those that we serve and to see the Lord glorified among everything that takes place.”

Melber, a veteran executive leader in Southern Baptist life, was formally announced as BCH’s new CEO on Oct. 12 after a yearlong search. He will begin his tenure with BCH on Jan. 2, 2025, after wrapping up his responsibilities in his current role as chief operating officer/chief financial officer with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

In introducing Melber to messengers, BCH search team chairman David Powell thanked N.C. Baptists for their prayers throughout the process to find the organization’s next leader.

“It has been my prayer that God would call a man that would steward every penny as a sacred trust, not just to engage in good deeds, but to share the gospel and the heart of Jesus Christ with those who are the most vulnerable,” said Powell, who serves as pastor of Lovedale Baptist Church in Sylva, N.C., and is a member of BCH’s board of trustees. “And it is my honor to humbly say to you that God has answered our prayers as I introduce to you today Rev. David Melber as the incoming CEO of Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina.”

The Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina is a separate but related entity to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Since its founding in 1885, BCH has grown from a single location in Thomasville, N.C., to more than 30 locations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Guatemala. The nonprofit ministry has expanded its services over the years to serve children, families, single mothers, college students, intellectually and developmentally disabled adults, and aging adults.