The Rev. Ronnie Floyd has logged a lot of mileage since his election as president of the 15.7- million-member Southern Baptist Convention last June.
He has met with Baptist ministers in Cuba, visited border patrol facilities for immigrants in McAllen, Texas, and listened to the challenges facing missionaries in the Middle East. And he has talked with Southern Baptists across the United States about their hopes and concerns.
Through it all, Floyd, senior pastor of the multicampus Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas, has emphasized the need for prayer and for what he calls a "great awakening" in America.
"I've talked with a lot of people from a lot of churches," the 59-year-old pastor said. "So I've spent a lot of my time on the road during the week and with that I've learned that people believe desperation is rising in our country and across the world ... and we're at the point where we cannot fix ourselves. Then there is a real question: What do we do?"
That's where Floyd sees the need for a great awakening, and he's calling on his fellow Southern Baptists to come together in prayer during the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting Tuesday and Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio. The entire Tuesday evening session will be a time of prayer, which Floyd thinks will be one of the greatest moments of the gathering.
"Everyone knows the time is critical," he said. "And evangelical denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention need to lead. We don't need to sit there paralyzed with uncertainty or intimidated by the culture. We are a Bible people, and we need to step up and declare what God's word says."
During his travels, Floyd said, Southern Baptists shared many concerns, especially related to religious liberty, both at home and abroad, as well as same-sex marriage and abortion.
Within the church, he said, Southern Baptists are concerned that they aren't doing enough to reach towns and cities with the Gospel.
"We have to get more serious about taking the Gospel to the world," he said. "We believe the hope of the world is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and nothing more."
That's the missional vision of the Southern Baptist Convention -- to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations.
"That's who we are, and that's what we are trying to be," Floyd said. "Ultimately that categorizes as one simple phrase: reaching the world for Christ. We know we can do more, and we know our churches can do more."
With that in mind, the convention is making a concerted effort to start more churches in order to reach more people. The goal is to start 1,500 churches each year over a 10-year period.
"We're right at 1,000 this past year so we know we can reach that eventually," Floyd said. "We're working hard and we are becoming much more ethnically diverse and multilingual."
Floyd said that of the convention's roughly 50,000 churches at least 10,300 are multiethnic, a number he expects to continue to increase. Other churches of all types are also thriving.
"We have some fabulous churches that are growing and are exciting and are really touching a lot of people," he said. "People don't understand that we really do have some wonderful churches of all sizes. Just because they're large, that doesn't make them great. What makes them great is that they seize the moment where they are."
As for Floyd, he's open to another year of traveling and juggling his responsibilities at Cross Church if he's elected for a second term as president.
The traveling has been hard, but Floyd said he has missed only a few Sundays back home at Cross Church, a megachurch with five campuses -- in Springdale and Rogers, two in Fayetteville and one in Neosho, Mo.
He relies on his staff to keep things rolling while he's away and also on the prayers of his fellow Southern Baptists.
"Without our staff here it couldn't be done," he said.
Andy Wilson serves as executive leader of ministry and operations. He has known Floyd for 30 years. They met during Floyd's second Sunday as pastor of what was then known as First Baptist Church of Springdale. Wilson said the team's goal has been to keep things running smoothly so that Floyd can do what he needs to in his role as president of the convention.
"I think he's done an excellent job. He's been extremely engaged, and he's been committed to the job and I mean committed," Wilson said. "The thing he's so passionate about is just sharing the Gospel. He's a godly man, and he has shared the Gospel everywhere he went."
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, is a longtime friend. He said Floyd has a frenetic energy.
"He is able to be all over the country at a pace that would immobilize most people," Moore said. "And he has a very clear direction of what he wants to see happen. His primary issues are a call for prayer for a great awakening and visible unity among Southern Baptists. I think most Southern Baptists could tell you that's what his key agenda is, which is a sign of good leadership."
Moore said he has seen Floyd serve with what he calls "joyful exuberance."
"He has a joyful spirit and boundless energy," he said.
Despite that boundless energy, Floyd said his year as president hasn't been easy.
"It's been extremely challenging, and it's just endless," he said. "It surprises me how endless it is."
Outside of his duties as pastor and president, Floyd is a husband (to Jeana for 38 years), father of two adult sons (Josh and Nick) and a doting grandfather to seven grandchildren.
"I've got plenty to do," he said. "I've got grandkids in Birmingham (Ala.), grandkids here, I'm married, got two kids, two daughters-in-law. Lord help us. I've got five campuses, which means I have five different children, all different ages. So it's a challenge but God has seen me through."
After the annual meeting he hopes he can "get aside for a moment and chill," Floyd said.
While the extensive travel might be more taxing than glamorous and the hours may be long, Floyd said he's grateful for the opportunity to serve as president.
"I'll never be the same because of it," he said. "You see so much, you're a part of so much. God uses experiences and people and books to change your life and God has obviously used a lot of stuff to really [affect] me this year."
Religion on 06/13/2015