October 2, 2026
Rubén Torres, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Victoria en Cristo (Victory in Christ Baptist Church), is expected to be nominated for vice president of the Georgia Baptist Convention at the annual meeting next month in Augusta. Iglesia Bautista Victoria en Cristo is the Hispanic mission of First Baptist Jonesboro.
FBC Jonesboro Pastor Mel Blackaby, who has announced his intention to nominate Torres for the post, calls Torres, "a trusted friend who has served the Lord with a tender shepherd’s heart, a sharp academic mind, and humble attitude. He is a team player who will be a great asset to the Georgia Baptist Convention."
The annual meeting is set for November 13-15 at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, and the registration portal is open for churches to sign up messengers.
The Georgia Baptist Convention, made up of 3,600 churches with 1.4 million members, holds a business meeting each November. People attend from across the state, drawn as much by the fellowship, preaching, and singing as by any business matters on the agenda.
In that meeting, messengers will elect a new president and first, second, third and fourth vice presidents. The rankings of the vice presidents are based on the number of votes they receive.
Torres, a native of Puerto Rico, was saved as a college student and answered the call to ministry in 1984. He received a veterinary degree in Mexico, before achieving a Master’s degree from Luther Rice Seminary and a doctorate from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Prior to serving at FBC Jonesboro as pastor of the Hispanic congregation, he pastored in Puerto Rico and was interim director of the Puerto Rico Baptist Theological Seminary. Torres has served on NAMB task forces and was the former director of the Jonesboro Extension center of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
In 2021, Victoria en Cristo gave just over $7,000 tthrough the Cooperative Program, and an additional $2,778 to Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon. For the past three years, the congregation has also funded SEND Toronto church planters Alex and Indira Fleming.
Working in partnership with FBC Jonesboro, Torres leads that church’s mission efforts in Latin America, with active partnerships in Honduras, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua Panama and Cuba. Torres himself has traveled to Cuba for 22 years and helped plant more than 10 churches during those visits.
"Along with serving together on staff, we have also traveled the world doing mission work," Blackaby said in an email. "He has an amazing ability to communicate with people of various languages and cultures. In fact, my sermons never sounded so good, as when Ruben is translating for me!"
Torres and his wife Glenda have been married for 33 years, and they have a grown daughter.
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