Ron Blankenship to be Nominated for BCM/D President

The Gathering, The Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware’s Annual Meeting, is less than a month away, on November 10–11 in Ocean City, Maryland. One of the key items of business will be the election of a new slate of officers.

Montgomery Baptist Association (MBA) Director of Missions Ron Blankenship, who currently serves as BCM/D First Vice President and president of The Baptist Foundation of Maryland/Delaware, will be nominated for BCM/D president. He has been a familiar face throughout the convention.

In addition to his current role, Blankenship has ministered in various capacities, including serving on the BCM/D General Mission Board and on the board’s Nominating Committee and Strengthening Churches Committee. He has worked with church-planting efforts through coaching and assessment. Additionally, he has led many seminars in the MBA and other associations and has served as an interim pastor for ten local churches.

Dr. Ron Blankenship with his wife, Evelyn. (Photo submitted)

During his tenure as MBA Director of Missions, the association has grown from 42 churches in 1999 to 92 churches today, representing a great diversity of language groups.

Blankenship said, “I have seen many changes during the last 26 years, and I believe presently we are in the best position ever for cooperative ministries between the state convention and the 11 associations.”

He continued, “Executive Director Tom Stolle, Associate Executive Director Mark Dooley, and all BCM/D staff have worked tirelessly to build great relationships with associations and churches. The future is bright as we work together in spreading the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.”

Blankenship also emphasized the importance of cooperation across Baptist life. We seek to support and share national Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) ministries wherever we can, and I am a proponent of the Cooperative Program giving through the state to SBC ministries.”

He said, “We can do much more together than separately. When churches, associations, state conventions, and SBC organizations realize that we all serve the same Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and when we understand that we all serve the same churches, then we can work in unity to accomplish reaching the lost, discipling them in the ways of Christ, and ultimately glorify God through our praise and gratitude for this great calling.”

Faith Journey and Ministry Path

Blankenship was saved in December 1976 at Horsepen Southern Baptist Church at the mouth of a hollow in the mountains of southern West Virginia. “A traveling youth group invited me to a revival service. That same church ordained me to the gospel ministry in 1979.”

He was active in the Baptist Student Union (BSU) at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. “I preached my first sermon near there in 1979. Jim Fugate, BSU director, was very influential in my call to the pastoral ministry, as well as introducing me to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where I earned my M.Div., M.A. in Christian Education, and Doctor of Ministry.”

During Blankenship’s second semester, life changed significantly. “I was pastor of Mt. Eden Baptist Church in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, where I first learned how to be a pastor. During seminary, I met my wonderful wife, Evelyn, and we were married in December 1982. Along our journey, the Lord blessed us with three fantastic children: Nathan, Melanie, and Angela.”

Ron, with Evelyn and the children alongside him, went on to lead three more churches and a church plant in Virginia and Tennessee, for a total of twenty years in the pastorate.

“For the last 26 years, God has blessed our ministry as I have served as Director of Missions for Montgomery Baptist Association in Maryland,” he reflected. “I love God, my family, every person God leads me to minister to, my friends at BCM/D, and all our partners in ministry.

We live in an age that is increasingly becoming secular and evil. More than ever, we need to let everyone know that only Jesus saves and only He can make our lives worth living.

I look forward to the years ahead as we serve together to tell the world about the great glad news of our Lord, who died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected so we can live an abundant and eternal life with Jesus.”

Other Nominations to Date: