Southern Baptists elected Florida pastor Willy Rice as their new president, who has advocated for moving the denomination further right on issues of gender, race, and immigration. The election occurred during the annual meeting where delegates will also vote on a constitutional amendment banning churches with women pastors.
The election of Willy Rice and the upcoming vote on banning women pastors signal a potential intensification of conservative stances within the Southern Baptist Convention, impacting internal denominational policy and potentially its future membership and public engagement.
Southern Baptists elected Florida pastor Willy Rice as their new president on Tuesday, signaling a potential shift further right within the conservative denomination. Rice secured 58% of the vote over South Carolina pastor Josh Powell during the opening day of the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting.
Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, has been supported by advocacy groups that argue the denomination's leadership has become too "woke" on issues such as race, gender, and immigration. He has called for adherence to core convictions rather than a "mushy evangelical middle ground."
Last year, Rice led efforts to abolish the denomination's public-policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, citing criticisms over funding from progressive organizations. He has also expressed concerns that reforms addressing sexual abuse within the denomination have been sidetracked by secular ideologies, rather than focusing on stopping abuse.
Rice has advocated for an addition to the Baptist Faith and Message, the denomination's statement of faith, to declare gender as biologically determined and unchangeable. This stance aligns with a proposed constitutional amendment that delegates are expected to vote on Wednesday, which would formally ban churches with women pastors.
This amendment, proposed by Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, aims to provide clarity and prevent prolonged debates on the issue. It specifically targets churches where women hold the office of pastor or function in that capacity, including preaching to the congregation. This marks the fourth consecutive year messengers will vote on an amendment regarding women pastors.
The meeting also comes as the denomination faces a nearly two-decade-long decline in membership, with numbers now at 12.3 million, the lowest since 1973. Resolutions on antisemitism and immigration are also on the agenda.
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