Garvon Golden, a longtime leader in the Dakota Baptist Convention, has become its executive director/treasurer. “This is the first executive director who has pastored here, served as director of missions and in a statewide position,” fellow convention staff member Buck Hill noted. Though Dakota Baptist churches have nearly doubled their Cooperative Program gifts since 2004, Golden said Dakota Baptists are facing a challenging financial time as they adjust to a shift in North American Mission Board funding and to a reduced convention staff.