HOUSTON—Houston pastor Nathan Lino will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention at the annual meeting in November. Lino, 38, serves as pastor of Northeast Houston Baptist Church (NEHBC) in Humble and would be the youngest SBTC president to date, if elected.

Chris Osborne, pastor of Central Baptist Church in College Station told the TEXAN he plans to nominate Lino, who was a member of Osborne’s church while a student at Texas A&M University. Osborne has continued to mentor Lino in ministry over the years.

“He came through my ministry and is one of the younger pastors I meet with regularly,” said Osborne, who served as SBTC president from 2003-05. “Nathan is one of the finest preachers, husbands, dads and pastors in our convention.”

With a passion for missions and church planting, Lino has preached and ministered in nearly 40 countries. Additionally, NEHBC has planted seven churches in Houston and overseas.

Born in South Africa, Lino’s family immigrated to the Houston area when he was 11. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University before completing his Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina. Upon graduation from Southeastern, Lino returned to Texas and planted NEHBC in 2002. He is currently in the final stages of his Doctor of Ministry degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

No stranger to denominational leadership, Lino has served previously as first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2012-13 as well as first vice president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention from 2006-08. He has also been a member of the board of trustees for the International Mission Board (IMB) from 2006-14 and was elected to the SBTC’s Executive Board in 2014. Additionally, he was on the SBTC Committee on Committees, serving as chairman at the end of his rotation.

Lino and his wife, Nicole, have been married 16 years and have four children.