Charlotte pastor is candidate to lead N.C. Baptist State Convention

The Rev. Mark Harris, senior pastor at Charlotte's First Baptist Church, says he'll be a candidate for president when the N.C. Baptist State Convention meets in November.

Southern Baptists make up the largest Protestant denomination in the state, with about 1.4 million members. More than 4,200 N.C. churches are associated with the Baptist State Convention.

Harris, 45, is now the group's first vice president and he's been in the forefront of a push in recent years to move the convention further to the right.

The most prominent example: In 2006, the convention adopted a policy crafted by a committee chaired by Harris. It said Baptist churches that "knowingly act to affirm, approved, endorse, promote, support or bless homosexual behavior" would henceforth be considered "not in friendly cooperation" with the convention.

Among the gay-friendly churches that have since left or been kicked out of the convention includes Charlotte's Myers Park Baptist.

Harris, whose uptown church attracts 1,000 worshipers most Sundays, told the Observer that he would "use the bully pulpit to continue that (conservative) vision" if elected president of the convention.

But mostly, Harris said, he wants to have Southern Baptist churches in the state work together to fulfill the Great Commission -- Jesus' command in the Gospel of Matthew to baptize and teach the Word to people around the world.

Harris said he'd also push for the state convention to closely align itself with mission boards and seminaries of the national Southern Baptist Convention, which has also grown more conservative in recent decades.

Nominating Harris at the November meeting in Greensboro will be the Rev. Marty Jacumin, senior pastor at Bay Leaf Baptist Church in Raleigh. He said Harris is the best person to lead the group at a time when some Baptist churches in North Carolina are closing.

"I've really seen Mark's heart for people and for the Gospel, lived out in leadership," he said. "And I've seen him drive from one end of the state to the other for Baptist causes."

Jacumin said Harris understands the need to plant more Baptist churches around the state and help existing churches struggling in this sour economy.

"Right now, more (Baptist) churches are closing each year than are opening," he said.

He also expects Harris to help the state convention become more diverse.

"When you think of Southern Baptist now, you probably think of white churches," Jacumin said. "We need to have more and more Southern Baptist churches that are Hispanic, African American, Chinese."

Harris' decision to run f0r the top job also comes at a time when an increasing number of churches are dropping the word "Baptist" from their names in hopes of attracting people who might be turned off by denominations.

"Over the years, the word 'Baptist' has, to some, been more associated with controversies than a lot of us would like," Harris said. "What I can do (as president) is see that the word 'Baptist' is more associated with the positive impact we are making on the culture, on families, on government."

Neither Harris nor Jacumin said they had heard of any other pastors planning to have their names placed into nomination for president when the "messengers," or delegates, meet Nov. 7-8 in Greensboro.

"No one (else) has announced," said Harris.

If elected, Harris would serve a one-year term, with the option of running for a second one-year term in 2012. There’s a two-term limit.