Updated Monday, May 19, 2008

N.C. pastor to bring convention message

From staff reports

Al Gilbert will preach at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting next month, becoming the first N.C. Baptist pastor in 45 years to bring the convention sermon.

Gilbert, senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, is scheduled to preach at 11:25 a.m. June 11.

The last N.C. Baptist pastor to preach the SBC's convention sermon was Carl Bates, then pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte, in 1963. The last person with N.C. ties to preach the sermon was Lewis A. Drummond in 1992 just after he retired as president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Gilbert has been pastor at Calvary since November 2002. He previously served as special assistant to the president of the International Mission Board. N.C. Baptist participation in the SBC has increased in recent years.

For a number of years after conservatives solidified control of the SBC and the Baptist State Convention (BSC) stayed predominantly moderate, few N.C. Baptists were on the SBC program.

Allan Blume, pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Boone and president of the BSC's Board of Directors served as chairman of the Committee on Order of Business at last year's SBC meeting.