Alpharetta, Ga. (BP)—The Southern Baptist North American Mission Board has appointed David Meacham to the newly created position of senior strategist for associations. Prior to his new appointment, Meacham served as NAMB’s senior strategist for church planting.

In naming Meacham to the new position, NAMB President Geoff Hammond expressed his commitment to ensure greater thinking from Baptist associations throughout the mission board and a higher visibility of associations and their efforts.

The appointment of Meacham to the newly created job follows a NAMB-initiated “think tank” meeting in April during which NAMB/associational relations was discussed and redefined. The session was attended by NAMB representatives, associational missionaries, several state executive directors and state directors of missions.

Hammond said with Meacham in the new post, associations will have a higher profile as NAMB assists Southern Baptists in their task of fulfilling the Great Commission in the United States, Canada and their territories via NAMB’s strategy of sharing Christ, starting churches and sending missionaries.

Meacham said he is looking forward to assisting associations in the areas of evangelism, church planting and missions, especially with the added challenge of NAMB’s recently announced national evangelism initiative, “GPS—God’s Plan for Sharing.”

Meacham, who served as director of missions in Las Vegas from 1981-1992, led Southern Baptist statewide efforts from 1992-2001 as executive director of the Nevada Baptist Convention. He came to NAMB in 2007 from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he served as director of the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health.