Jerry Vines announces retirement; FBC Orlando announces transition

by James A. Smith Sr.                                                                            Vol. XVIII, No. 6, June/July 2005

Jerry Vines announced May 1 he will retire next February as senior pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, FL, stressing that he is retiring from the pastorate, not the Gospel ministry. "After much prayer, and confident of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the time has come to announce my retirement as your pastor," Vines said at the end of the evening worship service. "In no way am I retiring from the Gospel ministry. I plan to devote whatever remaining time the Lord Jesus gives me to a ministry of Bible preaching, teaching and writing, and a ministry to preachers, as the Lord opens doors of opportunity."

Meanwhile, the search committee of another prominent Florida church, First Baptist of Orlando, announced May 1 that Louisiana pastor David Uth is its recommendation to become co-pastor at the Florida Baptist congregation. Uth would share pastoral duties with long-time pastor Jim Henry for an indefinite period of time, after which Henry would retire and Uth would become senior pastor.

Uth is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of West Monroe, LA, where he has served since 1996. According to the church's website, Uth is a native of Arkansas. Henry, 67, pastor of the Central Florida congregation since 1977, told the church that Uth will serve alongside him and "after a while, take the ball and run with it" as senior pastor. Henry, twice-elected Southern Baptist Convention president (1994, 1995), described Uth as a "gentle, godly shepherd" and a "wonderful man of God."

A leader of the conservative resurgence movement which sought to change the theological direction of the Southern Baptist Convention and its agencies during the 1980s and 1990s, Vines was elected SBC president in 1988 and 1989. He also served as a member of the Baptist Faith and Message Study Committee which recommended the 2000 revision to the statement of faith, as president of the Southern Baptist Pastor's Conference, 1976-77, and president of the Alabama Pastors' Conference in 1976.

In response to a reporter's question about the recent retirement of other SBC leaders, Vines said, "Of course, we knew that this would come. Some of us -- Dr. (Adrian) Rogers, and myself, and others who were involved in what has been called the conservative resurgence -- were known as the young lions. We were the barbarians at the gate, so to speak, in the SBC controversy. Now we're considered the old lions."

Rogers -- the first president elected at the beginning of the conservative resurgence in 1979 -- retired this year as pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, near Memphis, TN. [BP]

[James A. Smith Sr. is executive editor of the Florida Baptist Witness, online at www.floridabaptistwitness.com.]