VALLEY FORGE, PA (1/10/17)—The ABCUSA Nominating Committee in fall of 2016 has nominated the following persons to serve as ABCUSA Officers for the term running from January 1, 2018-December 31, 2019. The nominees are ABCUSA President, Josue D. Gómez-Menéndez, Esq.; ABCUSA Vice President, Dean Parker; ABCUSA Budget Review Officer, Paul Higgins. Officers will be elected at the Biennial Mission Summit, June 30-July 1, 2017, in Portland, Ore.
Rev. Judy Fackenthal, president of ABCUSA, said, “The ABCUSA Nominating Committee received multiple names for officers to serve in the 2018-2019 biennium. It was recognized that this biennium will continue to be one of significant transition as our denomination anticipates the selection of a new General Secretary within the next six months. Therefore, the Nominating Committee, after much prayer, discerned the need for both a President and Vice President who had experience on the Board of General Ministries. Both Mr. Menendez and Mr. Parker have experience on the Board of General Ministries and the board has been blessed by their leadership gifts. Please hold these nominated officers in prayer as the 2017 Biennial Mission Summit approaches.”
Dr. Josue D. Gómez-Menéndez, Esq., has been nominated to serve as President. He currently serves as Vice President of American Baptist Churches and as President of the ABCUSA Hispanic Caucus. Professionally, Gómez-Menéndez is a member of the Puerto Rico Bar and works as a lawyer and is currently the Administrative Director of the Puerto Nuevo Baptist Academy, a college preparatory school in the San Juan area with 1000 students serving since 1956. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and is the first person nominated as an ABCUSA Officer from Iglesias Bautistas de Puerto Rico, the American Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico regional organization.
Dean Parker has been nominated to serve as Vice President. He served on the Board of General Ministries for five years, completing his term in November 2016. Parker works as a Marketing Representative in the Philadelphia area. Regionally, he currently serves as moderator of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, and has held the positions of board member, executive board member, assistant treasurer, and team leader with the region. Locally, Parker served as former Chairman of the Deacon’s ministry, and has been active in leadership at his home church of Canaan Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Penn.
Paul Higgins has been nominated to serve as Budget Review Officer. He currently serves as Vice President of Finance for Rainbow Acres, a residential ranch-style community for the developmentally disabled in Camp Verde, Arizona. Rainbow Acres also recently became an Associated Ministry Organization of American Baptist Churches USA, voted on at the November 2014 Board of General Ministries meetings.
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.