President of the Southern Baptist Convention
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The president of the Southern Baptist Convention heads the denomination and is elected at the yearly convention. 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]
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]
In the early days of the SBC, 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. Since the advent of the current two year limitation, the custom has been for the president to serve two consecutive terms and not run again after the one-year stand-down period. However, one person has 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. 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. 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]
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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 | ![]() |
P.H. Mell | 1863–1871 | Georgia |
5 | ![]() |
James P. Boyce | 1872–1879 | South Carolina and Kentucky |
6 | P.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 | E.W. 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 | 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 (At this time he was the pastor of First Baptist Church Lubbock, Texas) | |
41 | James L. Sullivan | 1976–1977 | Tennessee | |
42 | Jimmy Allen | 1977–1978 | Texas | |
43 | ![]() |
Adrian Rogers | 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[5] | 2014–2016 | Arkansas | |
62 | ![]() |
Steve Gaines[6] | 2016–2018 | Tennessee |
63 | J. D. Greear[7] | 2018-2021 | North Carolina | |
64 | Ed Litton[8] | 2021- | Alabama |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b Beachum, Andy; Rebecca, Wolford (1 September 2014). "SBC Presidents". Baptist Press. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "SBC Constitution: Article 5: Officers". SBC.net. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Schroeder, George (March 24, 2020). "2020 SBC Annual Meeting canceled". Baptist Press. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Cathcart, William (1881). The Baptist Encyclopaedia. Everts. p. 551.
- ^ Baptist Press (June 10, 2014). "Ronnie Floyd wins Southern Baptist Convention presidency". townhall.com. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Denman, Barbara (15 June 2017). "Gaines reelected as SBC President, leads diverse slate of officers". Baptist Press.
- ^ Denman, Barbara (12 June 2018). "J.D. Greear elected SBC president". Baptist Press. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ "Southern Baptists Elect A New President, Ed Litton, Who Is Seen As A Bridge Builder". NPR. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
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- Southern Baptist Convention presidents
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