President of the Southern Baptist Convention

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The president of the Southern Baptist Convention heads the convention and is elected at the annual meeting. The president's duties include presiding over the annual meeting; appointing members to SBC committees; serving as an ex officio member of the board of SBC entities including the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board, and Lifeway Christian Resources; and representing the SBC to other Baptist denominations and to the press.[1]

Although the SBC Bylaws do not specifically state that only a male may be elected as president, no female has ever served as such (the majority of presidents have been pastors of churches, which according to the Baptist Faith and Message, the office of pastor is limited to men only). Any person may be nominated and there is no requirement that a candidate announce their intent to run prior to the annual meeting (during the 2022 Annual Meeting, three candidates announced their intent to run, and a fourth candidate was nominated at the annual meeting). If only one candidate is nominated, the secretary of the SBC (or any designee) may cast the ballot. If three or more candidates are nominated, and no candidate receives a majority on the first ballot, subsequent ballots shall carry all candidates in the top 50 percent of the prior ballot. Proxy voting is not allowed.

Under SBC Bylaws, the term is for one year, and a candidate can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms, after which he must sit out a year before standing for re-election.[2] Prior to the current bylaws, presidents could serve more than two terms and frequently did: P.H. Mell served a total of 16 years (over two terms spanning eight years each), the most of any president. The service year overlaps with two calendar years as the annual meeting is held in June, and the term starts upon completion of the annual meeting (thus, at the annual meeting, the incumbent president serves until the annual meeting concludes, after which the elected president—whether incumbent or new—will begin his term).

Since the advent of the current bylaws, the custom has been for the president to serve two consecutive terms, but not run again after the one-year stand-down period; however, it is not uncommon for a president to serve only one term and then step down and not run again. But, two persons have served as president for more than the customary two terms since that time:

* Adrian Rogers served as president for a single term in 1979–1980 and then again for two consecutive terms in 1987–1988 and 1988–1989.
* When the 2020 Annual Meeting was cancelled for the first time in 75 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, incumbent president J.D. Greear's term was extended to a third year despite the normal term limit, since his replacement could not be elected until the next meeting.[3]

## List

[edit]

No. | Image  | President  | Years in Office  | State

|
|
|
|

1  |  | William Bullein Johnson | 1845–1851  | South Carolina
2  |  | R. B. C. Howell[4] | 1851–1859  | Virginia and Tennessee
3  |  | Richard Fuller | 1859–1863  | South Carolina
4  |  | Patrick H. Mell | 1863–1871  | Georgia
5  |  | James P. Boyce | 1872–1879  | South Carolina and Kentucky
6  |  | Patrick H. Mell | 1880–1887  | Georgia
7  |  | James P. Boyce | 1888  | Kentucky
8  |  | Jonathan Haralson | 1889–1898  | Alabama
9  |  | William J. Northen | 1899–1901  | Georgia
10  |  | James Philip Eagle | 1902–1904  | Arkansas
11  |  | Edwin William Stephens | 1905–1907  | Missouri
12  |  | Joshua Levering | 1908–1910  | Maryland
13  |  | Edwin C. Dargan | 1911–1913  | Georgia
14  |  | Lansing Burrows | 1914–1916  | Georgia
15  |  | James Bruton Gambrell | 1917–1920  | Texas
16  |  | Edgar Young Mullins | 1921–1923  | Kentucky
17  |  | George W. McDaniel | 1924–1926  | Virginia
18  |  | George W. Truett | 1927–1929  | Texas
19  |  | W. J. McGlothin | 1930–1932  | South Carolina
20  |  | F. F. Brown | 1933  | Tennessee
21  |  | Monroe E. Dodd | 1934–1935  | Louisiana
22  |  | John R. Sampey | 1936–1938  | Kentucky
23  |  | Lee Rutland Scarborough | 1939–1940  | Texas
24  |  | W. W. Hamilton | 1941–1942  | Louisiana
25  |  | Pat Morris Neff | 1944–1946  | Texas
26  |  | Louie D. Newton | 1947–1948  | Georgia
27  |  | Robert G. Lee | 1949–1951  | Tennessee
28  |  | J. D. Grey | 1952–1953  | Louisiana
29  |  | J. W. Storer | 1954–1955  | Oklahoma
30  |  | C. C. Warren | 1956–1957  | North Carolina
31  |  | Brooks Hays | 1958–1959  | Arkansas
32  |  | Ramsey Pollard | 1960–1961  | Tennessee
33  |  | Herschel H. Hobbs | 1962–1963  | Oklahoma
34  |  | K. Owen White | 1964  | Texas
35  |  | W. Wayne Dehoney | 1965–1966  | Tennessee
36  |  | H. Franklin Paschall | 1967–1968  | Tennessee
37  |  | W. A. Criswell | 1969–1970  | Texas
38  |  | Carl Bates | 1971–1972  | North Carolina
39  |  | Lawrence Owen Cooper | 1973–1974  | Mississippi
40  |  | Jaroy Weber | 1975–1976  | Alabama
41  |  | James L. Sullivan | 1976–1977  | Tennessee
42  |  | Jimmy Allen | 1977–1978  | Texas
43  |  | Adrian Rogers [5] | 1979–1980  | Tennessee
44  |  | Bailey Smith | 1980–1982  | Oklahoma
45  |  | James T. Draper Jr. | 1982–1984  | Texas
46  |  | Charles Stanley | 1984–1986  | Georgia
47  |  | Adrian Rogers | 1986–1988  | Tennessee
48  |  | Jerry Vines | 1988–1990  | Florida
49  |  | Morris Chapman | 1990–1992  | Texas
50  |  | Homer Edwin Young | 1992–1994  | Texas
51  |  | Jim Henry | 1994–1996  | Florida
52  |  | Tom Elliff | 1996–1998  | Oklahoma
53  |  | Paige Patterson | 1998–2000  | Texas
54  |  | James Merritt | 2000–2002  | Georgia
55  |  | Jack Graham | 2002–2004  | Texas
56  |  | Bobby Welch | 2004-2006  | Florida
57  |  | Frank S. Page | 2006–2008  | South Carolina
58  |  | Johnny M. Hunt | 2008–2010  | Georgia
59  |  | Bryant Wright | 2010–2012  | Georgia
60  |  | Fred Luter[1] | 2012–2014  | Louisiana
61  |  | Ronnie Floyd[6] | 2014–2016  | Arkansas
62  |  | Steve Gaines[7] | 2016–2018  | Tennessee
63  |  | J. D. Greear[8] | 2018–2021  | North Carolina
64  |  | Ed Litton[9] | 2021–2022  | Alabama
65  |  | Bart Barber[10] | 2022–2024  | Texas
66  |  | Clint Pressley[11] | 2024–present  | North Carolina

## See also

[edit]

* Christianity portal

* List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Beachum, Andy; Rebecca, Wolford (1 September 2014). "SBC Presidents". Baptist Press. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
2. ^ "SBC Constitution: Article 5: Officers". SBC.net. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
3. ^ Schroeder, George (March 24, 2020). "2020 SBC Annual Meeting canceled". Baptist Press. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
4. ^ Cathcart, William (1881). The Baptist Encyclopaedia. Everts. p. 551.
5. ^ Jay Mathews, Southern Baptists Elect Rogers, washingtonpost.com, USA, June 11, 1986
6. ^ Baptist Press (June 10, 2014). "Ronnie Floyd wins Southern Baptist Convention presidency". townhall.com. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
7. ^ Denman, Barbara (15 June 2017). "Gaines reelected as SBC President, leads diverse slate of officers". Baptist Press.
8. ^ Denman, Barbara (12 June 2018). "J.D. Greear elected SBC president". Baptist Press. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
9. ^ "Southern Baptists Elect A New President, Ed Litton, Who Is Seen As A Bridge Builder". NPR. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
10. ^ "Barber elected SBC President after runoff". Baptist Press. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
11. ^ Smietana, Bob (2024-06-12). "North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley elected SBC president". Religion News Service. Retrieved 2024-06-12.

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