Christy McMillin-Goodwin, associate minister for education and missions at Oakland Baptist Church in Rock Hill, S.C., has been nominated as moderator-elect for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
Â
A past moderator of CBF of South Carolina (CBFSC), McMillin-Goodwin is a graduate of Furman University in Greenville, S.C., where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Va., where she earned a master of divinity degree. She has served on the coordinating council for both CBFSC and the national CBF.
Â
“I feel churches (like Oakland) and individuals (like me) need a place to join together for missions, theological education, resource sharing and fellowship,” she said about CBF.
Â
“Being one of the youngest people to serve as moderator-elect, I feel I bring a different perspective on our world,” she said. “I was educated in a CBF-sponsored seminary and have only attended or worked in churches that were connected to the CBF, so I feel that I have a different perspective on our movement. While it is important to honor where we have been, I think by following God’s leadership, our best days are to come. I am grateful for CBF’s commitment to women in ministry and to involving young people in the decision-making process.”
Â
McMillin-Goodwin said one reason she is willing to serve as moderator-elect is that her church gives 98 percent of its mission dollars to CBF and “I feel that if we are going to commit this much money to a movement, we need to have a voice.”
Â
“I look forward to continuing to work with CBF as it discerns God’s direction for the future,” she said. “The strategic prioritizing process that CBF has been undergoing is exciting and forward thinking. I am looking forward to helping CBF implement some of the new strategies and priorities during my time as moderator-elect and then as moderator.”
Â
As moderator for CBFSC, McMillin-Goodwin “performed her duties with energy, grace, wisdom and compassion,” said CBFSC coordinator Marion Aldridge. “Christy is a magnificent human being. I have known her since she was in middle school and she is the real deal. Like the prophet Samuel, Christy has had a clear calling from God since she was a child. It has been a privilege to watch her mature into the competent, wise, impressive person that she now is.”
Â
McMillin-Goodwin grew up in Columbia, S.C., and attended Greenlawn Baptist Church. “I was fortunate to grow up in that church because I always had female ministerial role models,” she said.
Â
She began working at Oakland when she graduated from Baptist Theological Seminary in 1995. For nine years she was associate minister to students and has held her current position for the past five years. During college, she was an intern at First Baptist Church of Greenville, S.C., and Kirkwood Baptist Church in St. Louis.
Â
McMillin-Goodwin will be presented to the CBF General Assembly for election during its annual business session on July 3. Nominations for moderator-elect can also be made from the floor of the assembly.
Â
The moderator-elect’s chief responsibility is to preside over the assembly and the coordinating council in absence of the moderator. The moderator-elect automatically succeeds the moderator at the conclusion of a one-year term without a vote by the assembly.
Â
Hal Bass, a professor at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, is the current moderator-elect. He will assume the office of moderator on July 3, at the conclusion of the General Assembly.
Â
North Carolina pastor Jack Glasgow, the CBF’s current moderator, will assume the immediate past moderator position at the conclusion of this year’s assembly. The chief duty of the immediate past moderator is to chair the nominating committee.
Â
Sue Poss is on the communications staff with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
