Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference 2024-25 officers to be nominated

ORLANDO–Eric Stitts will be nominated by fellow Florida Baptist pastor Paul Purvis to serve as president of the 2024-25 Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference.

The nomination from Purvis, lead pastor of Mission Hill Church in Temple Terrace, will come during this year’s Pastors’ Conference meeting, set for Nov. 10-11 at First Orlando, held in conjunction with the Florida Baptist State Convention annual meeting.

“I look forward to gathering with my Florida Baptist family and nominating Eric Stitts to serve as the next president of our Pastors’ Conference. I’ve witnessed Eric’s passion up close as a faithful husband and father, a loyal friend and dedicated pastor. He leads the historic First Baptist Church Daytona Beach with a commitment to evangelism, discipleship and missions that is a model for others. He will lead our Pastors’ Conference with that same commitment. I can’t wait for more Florida Baptists to see the pastor’s heart in Eric that I’ve been privileged to see first-hand for several years,” Purvis said.

Stitts, who has served as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach since March 2018, said, “I am honored to place my name in nomination for president of the Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference. My desire is to encourage Florida Baptist pastors to press forward in this incredible journey of making disciples who make disciples, grounded in the truth that we can trust in the God who raises the dead, as 2 Corinthians 1:9 reminds us.

“It is my prayer and desire that each pastor will be reminded of God’s trustworthiness and that we are never alone in this calling. God has graciously given us His Spirit as our advocate, helper, teacher and guide every single day. I envision each message at the conference as a source of encouragement, learning, challenge and transformation, urging us all to walk worthy of this high calling because God is trustworthy.

“My prayer is that, through this role, I can help ensure that each pastor is encouraged, inspired and reminded of the powerful truth that we can trust in the God who raises the dead.”

During his tenure at First Baptist Church Daytona Beach, Stitts led the church in a relocation project to 235 acres of land and building a new campus. He also has directed the congregation toward local, national and international missions, overseeing seven international mission projects in 2024 and planting nearly 150 churches in Togo, Africa, in 2023.  He leads efforts for spiritual renewal in each ministry at the church, with the goal of “making disciples who make disciples.”

Stitts served on Florida Baptists’ committee on order of business 2019-22, serving as chair in 2022.

Prior to his Daytona pastorate, Stitts served in pastoral roles at Bayside Baptist Church, Harrison, Tennessee, for 18 years and First Baptist Church, Alcoa, Tennessee, for six years.

Stitts, a native of Tennessee, is a graduate of Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree.

He has been married to his wife, Amy, since 1994, and they have four children.

First vice president

Steve Loy, associate director of missions for East Central Baptist Network, will nominate John Marsh, lead pastor of Bella Vista Baptist Church in Edgewater, to serve as first vice president.

“Pastor John Marsh is a pastor of high integrity and strong leadership who has served the Lord faithfully as senior pastor at Bella Vista Baptist Church in Edgewater for more than 27 years. As a pastor, Marsh has trained and mentored many pastors through his association and state convention work. Pastor John Marsh is who we need for the 2024-25 first vice president of the Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference,” said Loy.

Marsh has served on the Florida Baptist State Board of Missions since 2019, serving on the administrative committee, denominational committee and loans committee during that time and serving as chairman of the loans committee in 2023 and 2024. He recently served on the search team for Florida Baptists’ new executive director-treasurer. Marsh also serves as moderator for East Central Baptist Network.

Marsh and his wife, Robin, have one young adult son.

Second vice president

Brian Stowe, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Plant City, will nominate Conrad Westbrook, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Geneva, to serve as second vice president. Westbrook has served in fulltime Christian ministry for approximately 20 years. He and his wife, Gina, have two children.

“I’m honored to nominate my friend, Conrad Westbrook, as second vice president for the 2024-25 Pastors’ Conference. He has been a friend for more than 15 years, and I have witnessed how the Lord has grown him in ministry as he has been obedient to the Lord’s call on his life through the years,” said Stowe.

“I had the privilege to be his pastor for the first few years I knew him before he left to be associate pastor in Illinois and then, subsequently, moving to pastor in Florida. God’s hand is on Conrad and his family as the Lord has used him to lead his church with steady, consistent and unifying growth during his 6 1/2 years at First Baptist Church in Geneva. He will be a great help and encouragement to Eric Stitts as they prepare to encourage and challenge pastors and their wives and families in 2025.”