Lark said a letter was mailed Sept. 19 to all members of the General Board (GB), chief executive officers of the BSC's agencies and institutions and the GB staff at the Baptist Building, Cary.

The nominee, a native of Johnson City, Tenn., has been pastor of the Colonial Heights Church in Kingsport, Tenn., since 1991. Prior to that, he was pastor from 1985 to 1991 of First Church, Huntersville, in the rapidly growing metro-Charlotte area.

"Jim Royston is not a superman," Lark said in releasing the name of the nominee.

"He does claim Christ as Savior and Lord. He is sure of his call to ministry. He is well-equipped spiritually, theologically, intellectually and relationally to lead thoughtfully and cooperatively, yet decisively.

"In my judgment, Jim Royston 'the person' is a responsible match with the executive director-treasurer 'the position,' " the pastor of First Church, Henderson, said in reporting that the decision of the EDSC was unanimous in the recommendation.

"I am humbled and honored to be nominated to the office of executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention," Royston said in a telephone conversation with the editor of the Biblical Recorder.

Royston has a long history of denominational service, according to information distributed by Lark. The nominee currently serves on the Tennessee Baptist Executive Board, comparable to the General Board in North Carolina, where he served before his relocation to his present pastorate. Among other assignments, Royston served as vice chair of the long range planning committee of the BSC from 1986 to 1990.

"We are open to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the same kind of leadership that characterized the work of the Executive Director Search Committee which brought us to this point," the nominee said.

Royston is a graduate of Carson-Newman College and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned a master of divinity degree in 1980 and a doctor of ministry degree in 1987.

While a student at Southeastern, he was certified in advanced clinical pastoral education through the Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.

His student pastorates included a rural church in Tennessee and a congregation in Apex. He was pastor of Carolina Pines Church, Raleigh, from 1978-81.

Royston served on the staff of the Mecklenburg (now Metrolina) Association through a five-year appointment by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Home Mission Board to direct work in evangelism, lay ministries, stewardship, church growth and new church starts.

The nominee and his wife, Jeannie, have been married 31 years and are the parents of two adult children--Jeffrey, a graduate of UNC-Charlotte who lives with his wife and daughter in Mooresville, and Jennifer, a graduate of Wake Forest University who lives in Kingsport with her husband and son.

During a four-month sabbatical, Royston served as minister in residence at Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Tenn. Earlier he had served as the first acting director of the Norton Institute for Congregational Health at Carson-Newman.

Colonial Heights Church has 1,300 members and last year gave $137,000 through the Cooperative Program and an additional $9,000 to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a missions partnership in Rochester, N.Y. The church had the highest per capita gifts of any congregation with more than 1,000 members in the Tennessee convention.

Royston has a long history of denominational service, according to information distributed by Lark. The nominee currently serves on the Tennessee Baptist Executive Board, comparable to the General Board in North Carolina, where he served before his relocation to his present pastorate. Among other assignments, Royston served as vice chair of the long range planning committee of the BSC from 1986 to 1990.

In an interview with the EDSC, Royston affirmed the beliefs set forth in the "Baptist Faith and Message," a statement of faith approved by messengers to the SBC annual meeting in 1963.

Royston stressed his belief in the autonomy of the local church and his "growing burden for reaching the unchurched."

"Jim Royston's spiritual health is reflected through his personal testimony," Lark said. "He is affirmed by those in small groups with whom he meets regularly to pray, and by many who have responded to inquiries made by the EDSC," the chair added.

Lark noted that Royston has "unusually good listening skills" while being an effective communicator in large and small groups. "His confidence and relational skills help him to be innovative, given to accepting challenge and to dealing with change where appropriate," Lark said.

In a footnote on the information distributed, Lark wrote: "We (the EDSC) were moved by the grace of God from being an appointed committee (reflecting diversity) to becoming genuine community (respecting diversity). We did not take votes as "Robert's Rule of Order" defines them because we were led by the Spirit of God to consensus when significant matters were to be decided."

The recommendation goes to the General Board from the EDSC, and if favorable action is taken, the GB will nominate Royston to messengers at the annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention in November in Winston-Salem.

Members of the EDSC are:
• Robert M. Blanton Jr., pastor, Lake Norman Church, Lake Norman;
• Peggy Conrad, member, Union Grove Church, Kernersville;
• Charlotte Cook, member, Jersey Church, Lexington;
• David Crocker, pastor, Snyder Memorial Church, Fayetteville;
• Cynthia Davis, member, Nations Ford Church, Charlotte;
• Tom Denton, pastor, First Church, New Bern;
• Tom Dimmock, member, Trinity Church, Raleigh;
• Max Hill, pastor, First Church, Jonesville;
• Max Holland, pastor, Bear Creek Church, Bakersville;
• Marion Lark, pastor, First Church, Henderson;
• William Leathers, pastor, First Church, Hickory;
• Janet Long, member, First Church, Franklin;
• Karl Ray Minor, pastor, El Bethel Church, Morganton;
• Jerry Pereira, pastor, First Church, Swannanoa;
• Wayne Poplin, pastor, Carmel Church, Charlotte;
• Eugene Ridley, pastor, Long Leaf Church, Wilmington;
• Lynn Sasser, director of missions, Mt. Zion Association, Burlington;
• Steve Scoggins, pastor, First Church, Hendersonville; and
• Cathy Tuttle, member, Mountain Creek Church, Gilkey.