October 2, 2026
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Messengers to the Georgia Baptist Convention elected four new vice presidents at their annual meeting on Tuesday in Augusta.
Rubén Torres, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Victoria en Cristo, was voted in as first vice president; Anthony Wilson, bi-vocational pastor of Church 180 in Hampton, as second vice president; Steve Taylor, lead pastor of McConnell Memorial Church in Hiawassee, as third vice president; and David Lambert, pastor of First Baptist Church in Thomson, as fourth vice president.
“These are all great brothers,” said newly elected President Josh Saefkow. “They will serve Georgia Baptists well.”
Torres has been a pastor both in Puerto Rico and Georgia. He was saved as a college student and answered the call to ministry in 1984. He received a veterinary degree in Mexico, before earning a master’s degree from Luther Rice Seminary and a doctorate from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
In the past, Torres also has served as interim director of the Puerto Rico Baptist Theological Seminary. He 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 through 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.
Torres is involved in ministry partnerships in Honduras, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua Panama and Cuba. He has helped plant more than 10 churches in Cuba over the past 22 years>
Torres and his wife Glenda have been married for 33 years, and they have a grown daughter.
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Wilson serves on the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee and is president of the African American Fellowship of Georgia Baptists. He also is a chaplain with the Georgia Department of Corrections.
An Atlanta native, Wilson was ordained in 2001 and called as pastor at New Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Forest Park where he served until 2005. That’s when he helped plant what is now Church 180, which has Sunday morning attendance of about 50 people and has given between $180 and $555 through the Cooperative Program each year over the past five years. The church also has given between $300 and $850 each year over the past five years to Mission Georgia.
Wilson received his undergraduate degree from DeVry University, a Master of Arts in ministry from Luther Rice Seminary and is working on his Ph.D. in organizational leadership at Luther Rice.
Wilson has three sons, one of whom is deceased, and one granddaughter.
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Steve Taylor is lead pastor of McConnell Memorial Church in Hiawassee.
Taylor has led the Hiawassee church for the past eight years and has been in ministry more than 34 years.
A graduate of Western Carolina University, Taylor began his career as a teacher and coach in public schools before moving into the pastorate. With a Master of Divinity degree from Gardner-Webb University, he has pastored churches in western North Carolina, the upstate of South Carolina, and in north Georgia.
At McConnell Memorial, Taylor has led the church to give 12.5% of its budget to Great Commission causes, including 5% – $70,000 – given through the Cooperative Program last year.
Taylor’s church has baptized more than 130 people since he arrived there.
Taylor serves on the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee and is chairman of the Church Membership Committee.
Taylor and his wife, Desi, have two children and five grandchildren.
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Lambert knows the Georgia Baptist Convention well, having served on the Executive Committee.
He received his doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. His bachelor’s degree is from Belmont University and his master’s degree is from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
First Baptist Thomson gave 5.4% of undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program last year. That amounted to more than $48,000. The church’s total giving for state, national and international missions last year was more than $120,000.
Lambert has baptized more than 80 people and added 150 new members since he became pastor at First Baptist Thomson.
Lambert and his wife, Julia, have a daughter, Abby.
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