June 7, 2016

By Aaron Weaver

DECATUR, Ga. — An advocate for victims of rape and child abuse is set to become the next Moderator-Elect of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship June 24 at the 2016 General Assembly in Greensboro, N.C.

The CBF Nominating Committee has selected South Carolina social worker and nonprofit leader Shauw Chin Capps to serve as Moderator-Elect in 2016-2017. At the conclusion of the 2017 General Assembly in Atlanta, she will succeed Alabama pastor and incoming CBF Moderator Doug Dortch as the Fellowship’s highest-ranking elected officer.

Capps has served as executive director of Hope Haven of the Lowcountry, a children’s advocacy and rape crisis center in Beaufort, S.C., for the past 13 years. She previously spent more than a decade in Louisville, Ky., as a therapist and program director for both a rape crisis center and the statewide child abuse prevention home visitation program. In 1996, Capps received her Master of Social Work from the Carver School of Church Social Work at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is also a graduate of Baylor University, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in social work.

Capps, who was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, spent her entire childhood in Singapore. She is married to Paul, the son of Baptist missionaries, and they have two daughters, Phoebe and Lydia. Capps is a member of The Baptist Church of Beaufort in Beaufort, S.C., a CBF partner congregation.

Capps said that she is humbled to serve as Moderator-Elect during this exciting period in the life of the Fellowship.

“I am incredibly humbled to be nominated as Moderator-Elect,” Capps said. “This is an exciting time in the life of CBF as we celebrate our 25^th anniversary. I am so proud of how far CBF has come and hopeful about how the Spirit will lead us in this journey together.

“As a social worker at heart who advocates every day for the least of these, I am energized by the Christ-centered and holistic ministries that CBF invests in locally as well as across the globe. My own faith journey began because of the grace-filled work of Baptist missionaries, and I am eternally grateful. Christ’s love compels me to give back in the form of tangible service to strengthen the impact of our Fellowship in bringing the love and grace of Christ to every corner of the world.”

The Nominating Committee, chaired by Josh Hunt, associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Anderson, S.C., will also present for approval from the Assembly additional nominees to serve on CBF’s Governing Board, Missions Council and Ministries Council.

The Governing Board, led by CBF Moderator Matt Cook, pastor of First Baptist Church in Wilmington, N.C., will also bring forward for the Assembly’s approval nominees to serve on the boards of the CBF Foundation and CBF Church Benefits as well as the Nominating Committee. The Governing Board has recommended Katie Sciba, a medical social worker in Stafford, Texas, to serve a second one-year term alongside CBF officers in the position of Recorder.

Other scheduled business during the 2016 Assembly includes proposed amendments to the CBF Constitution and Bylaws. The Governing Board previously adopted these amendments at its meeting in January. The proposed amendments can be read at www.cbf.net/amendments2016. Assembly attendees will also have the opportunity to vote on a Governing Board motion relating to CBF Global Missions as well as the 2016-2017 CBF Missions and Ministries Budget.

At the 2016 Assembly, Dortch, pastor of Mountain Brook Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., and current Moderator-Elect, will assume the role Moderator at the conclusion of the week-long annual gathering. CBF Moderator Matt Cook will transition to the position of Past Moderator and serve as an ex-officio member of the Nominating Committee in 2016-2017.

The slate of nominees to be submitted for approval at the Greensboro Assembly are listed below. These nominees as well as other announced recommendations and motions will be voted on by members of the Fellowship during the Friday morning business session on June 24.

Nominating Committee Report

Governance

• Moderator-Elect – Shauw Chin Capps, Executive Director, Hope Haven of the Lowcountry Children’s Advocacy and Rape Crisis Center, Beaufort, S.C.
• Nominating Committee Chair-Elect — Jenny Howell, Adjunct Faculty in Religion Department, Baylor University, Waco, Texas

Governing Board

• Bill Leonard, James and Marilyn Dunn Professor of Baptist Studies and Professor of Church History, Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Winston-Salem, N.C.
• Bill McConnell, Partner, Rogers & Morgan and former CBF Moderator, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Jim Somerville, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va.
• Kristen Tucker, Minister of Spiritual Development and Communications, Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C.
• Steve Wells, Pastor, South Main Baptist Church, Houston, Texas
• Rebecca Wiggs, Attorney, Jackson, Miss.

Missions Council

• Rick Burnette, Director of Agriculture, ECHO, Fort Myers, Fla.
• Roger Capps, Retired Missionary, Beaufort, S.C.
• Chris Ellis, Minister of Missions, Second Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark.
• Lauren Hovis, Grants and Contracts Manager, ActionAid, Washington, D.C.
• Randy Shepley, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Newport News, Va.

Ministries Council

• Terrell Carter, Director of Contextualized Learning and Assistant Professor of Practical Theology, Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Shawnee, Kan.
• Mary Nell McCoy, Retired Educator, Petaluma, Calif.
• Debbie Waters McDaniel, Laity, First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala.
• Jeff Neal, Director, Cooperative Education Program, Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.
• Angela Reed, Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Spiritual Formation, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University, Waco, Texas

Governing Board Recommendations

Governance

• Recorder – Katie Sciba, Medical Social Worker, AARN Health Services, Stafford, Texas

Nominating Committee

• Todd Heifner, Co-Director, Hope Manifest, Birmingham, Ala.
• Emily Holladay, Associate Pastor of Children and Families, Louisville, Ky.
• Cynthia Holmes, Attorney, Clayton, Mo.
• Jeff Wright, Chaplain Resident, Northside Hospital, Atlanta, Ga.
• Amy Jacks Dean, Co-Pastor, Park Road Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C.
• Cynthia Wise Mitchell, Laity, Alpine Baptist Church, Ala.

CBF Foundation

• Cynthia Holmes,Attorney, Clayton, Mo.
• Jim Morrison, Financial Services Executive, Dallas, Texas
• Ed Sunday-Winters, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Phenix City, Ala.
• Mimi Walker, Pastor, Church at Ponce and Highland, Atlanta, Ga.

CBF Church Benefits

• Nancy Bass, Financial Coordinator, First Baptist Church, Lumberton, N.C.
• Wally Davids, Operations and Finance Manager, First Baptist Church, Asheville, N.C.
• Terri Byrd, Coordinator of Alabama CBF, Hoover, Ala.

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CBF is a Christian Network that helps people put their faith to practice through ministry eff­orts, global missions and a broad community of support.The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.