Mission Statement
"The Southwide Baptist Fellowship is an annual gathering of Christian workers centered around biblical preaching, mutual encouragement, and multigenerational enlistment, uniting in fellowship and partnership for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Leadership
Dr. Scott Pauley
Chairman
Beckley, WV
Pastor Tim Cruse
Vice-Chairman
Monroe, NC
Pastor T. Kevan Bartlett
Secretary
Charleston, WV
Charles Prescott
Treasurer
Orange City, FL
Dr. John Reynolds
Athens, GA
Pastor Tim Rabon
Raleigh, NC
Pastor Scott Hooks
Hickory, NC
Pastor Mark Fowler
Elizabethton, TN
Pastor Kenneth Kuykendall
Lawrenceville, GA
Southwide 2026 Resolutions
SOUTHWIDE INDEPENDENT BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP
2026 Resolutions – (Submitted by Pastor T. Kevan Bartlett)
#1 – Regarding the Host Church
The Southwide Independent Baptist Fellowship, meeting in Annual Session at the First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio, October 12-14, 2026, wishes to express our sincere appreciation to the host church and its’ pastor, Edward Barclay. “Thank you, church, staff and membership for all of your inspiration, planning and labor to host our Fellowship meeting. It is magnificently obvious that you have worked long and hard to make this gathering a refreshing experience for all who have come. The good Lord has honored and blessed your efforts and we wish to express our heart-felt gratitude.”
#2 – Regarding Purity and Integrity
It is a sad and disturbing note in our culture that the moral decay we see around us in the unregenerate world is more and more being revealed to be a wickedness WITHIN the church.
The most destructive and disturbing of these sins (sins of sexual carnality and financial impropriety) are many times being committed by those who are tasked with the responsibility of proclaiming the truth of God’s Word against these wicked acts: pastors and those in church leadership. We must also acknowledge the evil extension of these sins to respond with secrecy and “cover-up.”
As God’s servants and followers of Jesus Christ, we must be biblically clear – these sinful actions are an abomination to our Holy God and in violation of the commands and principles of His Holy Word. Therefore…
The Southwide Independent Baptist Fellowship, meeting in Annual Session at the First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio, October 12-14, 2026, resolve that we will commit ourselves to the highest standards and practices in our ministries and in our personal lives to guard against offenses to God and stains upon the testimony of His Church especially in regard to sexual sin and financial sin. We further resolve to respond to sinful behavior by those in leadership with transparency and accountability.
We will acknowledge and will adhere to God’s standard in Titus 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God;