John Upton nominated as BGAV executive

by  Robert Dilday                                                                                                                                      Vol. XIV, No. 9, October 2001

Virginia missions leader John Upton Jr. will be nominated to become executive director of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. Ray Spence, who chairs the nine-member committee seeking to fill the position, unveiled the committee's choice at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's executive committee meeting 11 September.

Upton, 48, must be elected by the full Mission Board at its 9-10 October meeting in Richmond and by messengers to the annual BGAV meeting 8-9 November in Woodbridge. If approved by both groups he would assume his new position early next year.

Reginald McDonough, executive director of the BGAV and the VBMB since 1987, plans to retire 28 February.

"Missions is the foundation of our house," said Spence, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Richmond. "John Upton has an understanding of missions structure and a network for doing missions. We believe he is the right person for this time in the history of Virginia Baptists."

Upton has been group leader of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's mission-mobilization group since 1995. In that role he has developed mission partnerships with Baptists in Virginia, the United States, and around the world in cooperation with the Baptist World Alliance, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, and other ministry partners.

From 1984 to 1986 and again from 1991 to 1995, Upton was pastor of Urbanna Baptist Church in Urbanna, VA. He and his wife, Deborah, were missionaries in Taiwan from 1986-1991, serving with the SBC's International Mission Board. He also has been pastor of Colts Neck Baptist Church in Colts Neck, NJ, and associate pastor of Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco, TX.

Upton holds a bachelor of arts degree from Averett College, a Baptist-affiliated school in Danville, and a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. He also holds the honorary doctor of divinity degree from the India Baptist Theological Seminary in Kerrala. He has studied at the Taipei Language Institute and Chinese Language Institute, both in Taiwan. He also has been involved in clinical pastoral education at Hazelwood Hospital and Crescent Hill Baptist Church, both in Louisville, KY.

Upton's wife, Deborah, is associate pastor for children at First Baptist Church in Richmond, which Upton also attends. The couple has three children: Christopher, 23; Richard, 21; and Emily, 20.

Spence said the search committee interviewed several people for the state association's top leadership post -- both from Virginia and out of state -- before settling on Upton. One "serious" candidate was a woman, he said. [ABP]