By DIANA CHANDLER, Baptist Press
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sunday, February 14, is the Sunday of Racial Reconciliation at the Southern Baptist Convention.
COLOMBIA, SC (BP) – A few months after planting the Kingdom Life Church in Simpsonville in 2003, Alex Sands realized the enormity of the task.
“It wasn’t long before I found out that I didn’t know what I was doing and that I could really get in trouble. I could go to jail, ”he laughs years later. “We found that we needed help. I went to the Baptist Association of Greenville office … and I just entered. “
Joel Rainey, an associate missionary at the time, greeted Sands, listened to his concerns, offered help and referred him to various workshops. “And then he asked me if I knew about the Southern Baptist Convention and, like most African Americans, I didn’t. He gave me the Baptist Faith and Message, and then said, ‘I want you to consider being evaluated by our group at the state level.’ I said ok. “
Today, Sands is making history as the first African American president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention (SCBC), accompanied by first African American vice president Ron Henderson, senior pastor of Mt. Nebo Baptist Church in Spartanburg. It is the first time that the two main SCBC officers are black.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity,” said Sands. “It opened doors for me to really speak places, to speak in situations that we might not have been able to before. And you know that I love the convention. … I haven’t invested so much at the national level, but here at the local level, I have friendships, partnerships here that I wouldn’t trade for anything. “
Henderson considers it an honor to serve the convention “and also to be the one to hold Alex’s arms, as he is the first African American to be the president of the state convention. Which I think is a great choice, because he is the right person for the right time, for this season that we are in America, and also in the state of South Carolina. ”
Henderson calls the current season “separation”, “racism”, “hatred” and “choosing sides” in America.
“I just feel that America is a divided nation now,” he said, “and this year’s theme (SCBC) is Moving Forward Together. And I simply believe that if America is going to unite, it won’t happen in the secular world. This has to happen with the church. If the church does not take its rightful place – because we are at a crossroads now in America. If we choose wrong, we lose. “
Henderson believes it is critical for the “church to come together in one deal”. Mt. The Nebo Baptist Church, which he has led since 2014, is multiracial, with Henderson describing it as 70% African American, 25% white and 2% Hispanic.
Henderson served at the SCBC’s racial reconciliation roundtable, a monthly meeting of black and white pastors for confidential discussions on race-related issues. Henderson and Sands are part of the SCBC Racial Reconciliation Task Force.
Gary Hollingsworth, SCBC’s executive director-treasurer, said the task force helped SCBC to become more diverse through strategies that include education and action, and is among the strategic steps toward inclusion.
“We are serious and intentional about taking steps towards racial reconciliation and the election of these men is more than symbolic; it’s significant, ”said Hollingsworth. “We found that communication, respect and genuine brotherly love based on the Gospel are the factors that lead to authentic reconciliation”.
Hollingsworth describes Sands as a “pious and capable pastor and leader” and Henderson as “a vital member of our executive board”.
The benefits of Sands involvement in the lives of Southern Baptists have been reciprocal.
“As it turned out,” he said of becoming a Southern Baptist in 2004, “the state has given us financial support. We bought a building. We had a sponsoring church. (…) And then we became sponsors of a church.
“So this was something different, a predominantly African American church sponsoring an Anglo church plant,” said Sands. “That was cool, but we felt that this was what we needed to do to serve. And then, in 2008, I really connected and worked at the state convention. I served on the executive board of the convention. It kind of started my life at the convention and everything. “
As president, Sands hopes to promote the Advance Together theme through events such as the February 18 Impact Conference at Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia. Sands would like to see SCBC churches active in helping the state fight the COVID-19 pandemic, an evangelism he believes can help promote the Gospel.
“I pray about it every day,” he said. “We have 2,100 churches at this convention and we have a virus that is spreading wildly. I know that we have health systems that need help, that could use the support of the churches to help communicate the message about the vaccine, to provide access to people in their community. We have churches that are strategically positioned that can help, be present and serve the community.
“This is a way of promoting the Gospel. Because we present ourselves as, we are in agreement to solve this problem that is taking people’s lives daily. And then all the mental health problems that will come as a result of it all. Our church can talk about it. “
Sands is also focused on diversity in small groups, and highlights his friendship with SCBC President-elect Wayne Bray, pastor of Simpsonville First Baptist Church, a white majority congregation about five miles from Kingdom Life Church. At SCBC, presidents-elect are elected each year and must serve one year before assuming the post of president, as Sands was chosen as president-elect in November 2019.
Kingdom Life and Simpsonville First join in various initiatives and are forming small groups intentionally composed of members from both churches.
“To really grow as a disciple, you need to relate to people who are different from you,” said Sands, “because that’s where you really get the challenge. If everyone is the same as you, this ends up being an echo chamber.
“But when you can relate to those who are different, think differently, and still maintain a relationship for the sake of the Gospel … that’s really maturity. This is really being a mature disciple. “