Bill Arnold nominee for BGCT secretary of the corporation

Bill Arnold, who led the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation more than three and a half decades, will be nominated for the Baptist General Convention of Texas secretary of the corporation.

Steve Vernon, director of church relations at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, announced his plans to nominate Arnold at Texas Baptists’ annual meeting in Waco, Nov. 10-12.

Arnold “carries the credentials applicable to the position,” said Vernon, who worked 11 years as associate executive director of Texas Baptists.

Arnold served four decades on the BGCT staff, including 36 years as president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation.

“Nobody knows the convention better than Bill Arnold,” Vernon said. “He knows the ins and outs of the BGCT. Bill has the expertise and experience to do the job.”

If elected, Arnold will fill a post occupied for two decades by the late Bernie Spooner, who Arnold nominated for secretary of the corporation on several occasions.

“I have great admiration for Bernie and for all his work on behalf of the convention and local churches. It would be an honor to follow him as secretary of the corporation,” he said.

Decades of experience in BGCT life

Arnold noted he has attended more than 50 consecutive BGCT annual meetings and spent most of his career serving Texas Baptists.

“I appreciate what the BGCT does and see this position as a good way to serve after retiring,” he said.

Arnold spent his early years at a small town in northern Mississippi until his family moved to Memphis, Tenn. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics at Mississippi College and a master’s degree in religious education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

After he graduated from seminary, he served as minister of youth at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston. He went on to work seven years at Dallas Baptist Association before joining the BGCT staff, initially serving in the Sunday School Division.

As part of the Mission Texas emphasis in the mid-1980s—a five-year effort to begin 2,000 new churches in the state—Arnold worked on a fundraising effort to triple giving to state missions two consecutive years.

That effort gave birth to the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, and Arnold served as its founding president.

Under his leadership, the foundation raised more than $180 million to support missions and ministries, including the construction of Baptist Student Ministry buildings on five university campuses.

Arnold and his wife Margaret have two adult children and four grandsons.