Oklahoma Baptist University President, Dr. Heath A. Thomas presented the Herschel H. Hobbs Award for Distinguished Denominational Service to Dr. Stephen Rummage on June 11 during the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. Rummage serves as senior pastor of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
“I am so pleased that the committee unanimously selected Dr. Stephen Rummage for this prestigious award,” Thomas said. “In the tradition of Herschel Hobbs, Dr. Rummage is a pastor, churchman, scholar, and denominational leader. We are grateful to have him serving faithfully in Oklahoma and leading graciously in the national convention. Well deserved!”
Rummage has pastored churches in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Louisiana. He has taught at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Rummage is also an author and the founder of Moving Forward, a nationally broadcast radio teaching ministry. He served as president of the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Pastors’ Conference and has previously held positions, including chairman of the SBC Executive Committee and president of the Florida Baptist Convention.
The Hobbs Award is named to honor the noteworthy Southern Baptist denominational service of Dr. Herschel H. Hobbs, a prolific author, preacher and radio program host. Hobbs was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City from 1949 until 1972. He died in 1995. He is also the namesake of OBU’s Herschel H. Hobbs School of Theology and Ministry.
Previous winners and their positions of service at the time they received the Hobbs Award include Dr. James “Jamie” Dew, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College; Dr. Jonathan Jarboe, president and CEO of The Baptist Foundation of California; Dr. David Manner, executive director for the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists; K. Marshall Williams Sr., senior pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church of Philadelphia; Dr. Juan Sanchez, senior pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, Texas; Dr. Anthony Jordan, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma; Dr. Jeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary; Dr. Rebekah Naylor, former IMB missionary; Dr. O.S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources; Dr. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Dr. David S. Dockery, former president of Union University and chancellor of Trinity International University; Robert Kellogg, president and CEO of the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma and Dr. Tom Elliff, former president of the IMB.
