Oklahoman to be nominated for Southern Baptist Convention's top leadership post
An Oklahoma minister will be nominated to lead the Southern Baptist Convention when delegates of the nation's largest Protestant denomination gather in June.
The Rev. Mike Keahbone, of Lawton, said the Rev. Victor Chayasirisobhon, executive and co-lead pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Anaheim, California, is expected to nominate him for president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the denomination's annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.
A native of Elgin, Oklahoma, Keahbone, 52, is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lawton. He served as Cherokee Hills Baptist Church in Bethany among his previous pastoral posts. The minister said he is a member of the Comanche tribe, but he is also Kiowa and Cherokee.
In a story in the Baptist Messenger, Oklahoma Baptists' official news outlet, Chayasirisobhon described Keahbone, 52, as "the real deal, a leader who loves the Lord, loves the SBC and strives every day to make it better."
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“He is a son of the SBC, and I am convinced he is more than ready to step up and step into the role of president," Chayasirisobhon said in his statement to the news outlet.
Keahbone has served in several leadership positions with Oklahoma Baptists, formally known as the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, the state affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was a member of the Oklahoma Baptists Board of Directors from 2015-2021, serving as vice president from 2017-2019.
Currently, he also holds several leadership positions in the Southern Baptist Convention. Keahbone is a member of the denomination's executive committee. He is also a member of the convention's Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, a group appointed by current convention President Bart Barber to implement sex abuse reforms approved by Southern Baptist delegates, called messengers, at the faith group's 2022 annual meeting.
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Meanwhile, Baptist Press, official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention, reported Jan. 22 that Clint Pressley, senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, will also be nominated for the denomination's presidency at the denomination's annual meeting in June.
The person elected at that gathering will succeed current president Barber, who has served two one-year terms in the denomination's top post, which is standard.
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Keahbone said he is a product of the Southern Baptist Convention's dedication to "outreach to all people."
He said the denomination is in the midst of an "incredibly difficult" season, referring to a sex abuse crisis that has upended the faith group since the Abuse of Faith investigative series was published in 2019 by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express News. The denomination had a third-party independent investigation conducted to look into how top denomination leaders dealt with sex abuse allegations and the subsequent report showed that abuse allegations were mishandled and victims were poorly treated. The scathing report prompted messengers meeting in 2022 to ask for a series of abuse reforms.
Keahbone said he prayed about allowing himself to be nominated to lead his denomination and asked his family and church staff, deacons and congregations to do the same. Each came away with peace about him being considered for the position.
He said he believes he has a divine calling for the position and Pressley, the other nominee, likely feels the same way.
"I don't think guys would just jump into what we're dealing with without a divine calling to do so," Keahbone said. "And so I believe that God is working in Clint's (Pressley) heart. I believe he's working in my heart and whoever else may enter the race. I think it has to start with a calling for me."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lawton pastor to be nominated to lead Southern Baptist Convention
