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.

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. 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.

List

Image President Years in Office State 1 1845–1851 South Carolina 2 1851–1859 Virginia and Tennessee 3 1859–1863 South Carolina 4 1863–1872 Georgia 5 1872–1880 South Carolina and Kentucky 6 1880–1888 Georgia 7 1888–1889 Kentucky 8 1889–1899 Alabama 9 1899–1902 Georgia 10 1902–1905 Arkansas 11 1905–1908 Missouri 12 1908–1911 Maryland 13 1911–1914 Georgia 14 1914–1917 Georgia 15 1917–1921 Texas 16 1921–1924 Kentucky 17 1924–1927 Virginia 18 1927–1930 Texas 19 1930–1932 South Carolina 20 1932–1933 Tennessee 21 1933–1935 Louisiana 22 1935–1938 Kentucky 23 1938–1940 Texas 24 1940–1942 Louisiana 25 1942–1946 Texas 26 1946–1948 Georgia 27 1948–1951 Tennessee 28 1951–1953 Louisiana 29 1953–1955 Oklahoma 30 1955–1957 North Carolina 31 1957–1959 Arkansas 32 1959–1961 Tennessee 33 1961–1963 Oklahoma 34 1963–1964 Texas 35 1964–1966 Tennessee 36 1966–1968 Tennessee 37 1968–1970 Texas 38 1970–1972 North Carolina 39 1972–1974 Mississippi 40 1974–1976 Alabama 41 1976–1977 Tennessee 42 1977–1979 Texas 43 Jay Mathews, Southern Baptists Elect Rogers, washingtonpost.com, USA, June 11, 1986 1979–1980 Tennessee 44 1980–1982 Oklahoma 45 1982–1984 Texas 46 1984–1986 Georgia 47 1986–1988 Tennessee 48 1988–1990 Florida 49 1990–1992 Texas 50 1992–1994 Texas 51 1994–1996 Florida 52 1996–1998 Oklahoma 53 1998–2000 Texas 54 2000–2002 Georgia 55 2002–2004 Texas 56 2004-2006 Florida 57 2006–2008 South Carolina 58 2008–2010 Georgia 59 2010–2012 Georgia 60 2012–2014 Louisiana 61 2014–2016 Arkansas 62 2016–2018 Tennessee63 2018–2021 North Carolina64 2021–2022 Alabama65 2022–2024 Texas66Clint Pressley2024–2026North Carolina67 Willy Rice2026presentFlorida

See also

List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people

References