Texas Baptists elect officers for 2016-2017

Messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas elected a new slate of officers Nov. 14. Danny Reeves, pastor of First Baptist Church in Corsicana, was elected president. Last year, Reeves served as second vice president of the convention. Jason Burden, pastor of First Baptist Church of Nederland, nominated Reeves for the position.

“Danny will be a president we can believe in,” Burden said. “He will be a president we can follow whose example will be of such a high standard that we will strive to be a better convention and better people.”

Since 2011, Reeves has been senior pastor at FBC Corsicana. Previously, he served as pastor at First Baptist Church in Edna and First Baptist Church in McGregor. He also served on staff of churches in Mart, Big Lake and Blanket. Reeves is the first graduate of Truett Seminary to serve as Texas Baptists president and is also a graduate of Howard Payne University.

Joseph Fields, pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Lewisville, was elected as first vice president. Nominated by Craig Christina, pastor of Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas, Fields planted New Beginnings in 2009 with six people. The congregation has grown to an average attendance of 400. Fields previously served as a youth minister at Westside Baptist Church in Lewisville, and was the founding director of Camp Exalted, a Texas Baptists-sponsored camp for African American youth.

Jim Heiligman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Bryan, was elected second vice president following a nomination by Dr. Todd Still, messenger from First Baptist Church in Waco and dean of Truett Seminary. Heiligman has served at FBC Bryan since June 2014. Previously, he served nearly six years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Castroville. He also served as youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Moody, Central Baptist Church in Jacksonville and First Baptist Church in Charlotte.