Paul Ballard to be nominated for Georgia Baptist Convention vice president

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — Paul Ballard, senior pastor of Thomasville First Baptist Church, will be nominated for first vice president of the Georgia Baptist Convention, and the pastor nominating him says Ballard brings both a missionary heartbeat and a proven record of revitalization.

Joey Rodgers, who serves as senior pastor at FBC Peachtree City, said he met Ballard soon after Ballard arrived in Thomasville and was struck by “a delightful and joyful brother in Christ with an incredible heart for the Great Commission.” Since then, Rodgers said, he has watched from across the state as Thomasville “has become a thriving, revitalized church that is making a significant impact in southwest Georgia and around the world for the sake of the gospel.” What has impressed him most, he added, is that Ballard “leads with courage, integrity, and humility” and is deeply loved by the people he serves.

Ballard has served 36 years in Southern Baptist churches of all sizes, experience which he said has helped him understand the needs of congregations across the spectrum. He became pastor at Thomasville in August 2021. In the four years since, he said, “by God’s grace, the help of an amazing leadership team, and a church body that desires to please the Lord,” both Sunday School and worship attendance have grown dramatically.

Missions cooperation is part of the culture he has worked to build in Thomasville. The church gives 7% of undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program, another 2% directly to the International Mission Board, and 1% to the North American Mission Board. Additionally, over the last two years, the church has given $240,000 to Lottie Moon and more than $130,000 to Annie Armstrong. “I have led the church to see the importance of joining with other Southern Baptists to fuel missions and Kingdom work,” Ballard said. “We are stronger together!”

His faith journey began as a 14-year-old living in Montgomery, Alabama, where two friends brought Ballard to a revival service. “As I stepped out of the pew, one of them patted me on the back,” he recalled. “If I close my eyes today, I can still feel that pat of affirmation and encouragement.” While at the University of Alabama, Ballard would go to a nearby church after his studies to pray and ask the Lord to use him. That's where, he said, God confirmed His call on Ballard’s life.

Ballard and his wife, Libbie, have been married 37 years. The two met at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and graduated together in 1989. Their daughter Lauren and son-in-law Aaron both served with the IMB’s Journeyman program before attending SEBTS and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, respectively. Their son Matthew serves as student pastor at Calvary Baptist in McLeansville, N.C.

Among the many challenges facing churches today, Ballard lists “cultural compromise, declining attendance, poor ecclesiology, preaching and teaching not rooted in the Bible and God-centered theology, disunity in the churches, and lack of dependence upon the Lord in prayer.” But the biggest issue facing congregations, he said, is “submission to biblical authority. We must believe the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word of God. We must believe all of it!”

Ballard said he wants to help Georgia Baptist churches pursue health for the sake of the Great Commission. “I believe in the local church. I think the greatest thing going today is the local church,” he said. Healthy churches, he noted, start with a biblical grasp of “the gospel, conversion, membership, missions, leadership, discipleship, preaching, and evangelism.” Where that is present, he said, “churches will take seriously the Great Commission.”