Deciding to go with a candidate who “leads by example,” messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention lined up behind Frank Page on June 13, in Greensboro, N.C., giving the South Carolina pastor a victory on the first ballot for president of the SBC.

Page, who has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors for the past five years and who grew up in Greensboro, collected 4,546 votes, or 50.48 percent of the 9,005 ballots cast in a run for the presidency with opponents Ronnie Floyd of Springdale, Ark., with 2,247 votes (24.95 percent) and Jerry Sutton of Nashville, Tenn., who received 2,168 votes (24.08 percent).

The Taylors pastor was nominated by Forrest Pollock, pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Fla., who encouraged the messengers to choose a president who “leads by example.” The Florida pastor said the SBC needed a “special kind of leader” who not only loves God’s word, but will also support the Cooperative Program, the “traditional means of supporting our missionaries” and other Great Commission work of Southern Baptists.

Page had said all along that the election focused on methodology — how the convention does its work — more than theology or personalities. At a news conference following the announcement of the vote count, Page said his election shows evidence that Southern Baptists are serious about the work of the denomination and that “the Cooperative Program is of absolute importance — the people have said that.

”The 53-year-old pastor, who was saved as a youth at Greensboro’s Southside Baptist Church, not far from the hotel where he stayed during the June 13-14 SBC meeting, admitted that he was “taken aback” by his election as president, and that “this is a surreal moment for me.”

Page, who won more than twice the votes of either of the other candidates, made it clear that he was not leading a “revolution” to undo the conservative resurgence, which he supported. “That is not who I am, and that is not what the voters have asked for,” he said.

The Taylors pastor, who serves on the state convention’s Executive Board, does believe that his election was a “defining moment, a turning point” in denominational life. “A different tone will come forth,” he said. “The landscape has changed.”

Page said the Southern Baptist Convention belongs to God’s people, emphasizing that he wants to “strengthen our work together through the Cooperative Program” by reaching out to “godly men and women in churches of all sizes, who have been simply overlooked,” adding, “There are many who want to be a part of SBC life, and I want to seek them out.”

In making presidential appointments, Page said he would look for the qualities of a “sweet spirit, an evangelistic heart, belief in the integrity of the word of God,” and what he termed a “sacrificial missional mindset” demonstrated by strong support of the Cooperative Program.

“I would rather not use a specific percentage amount,” he explained, “because I want to broaden, not restrict, involvement. At the same time, I do believe a church’s giving to the Cooperative Program is a serious and obvious expression of its support for doing missions jointly.”

Page said the gospel message that Southern Baptists must share with the world is relevant — describing it as a “firm but loving message.” He said there is a need to “speak the truth in love” and to be kind in reaching out to believers and nonbelievers.

“For too long,” he said, “Baptists have been known for what we’re against. It’s time to say, ‘Please let me tell you what we’re for.’”

Page is the first South Carolinian elected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention since W.J. McGlothlin, then president of Furman University, was selected in 1930 in New Orleans. Two other South Carolinians have served — James P. Boyce, a former president of Southern Baptist Seminary, and William B. Johnson, who served as the SBC’s first president when it was organized in 1845.