In the weeks before the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, newly elected president Clint Pressley finished reading Malcom Gladwell’s book on precision bombing in World War II, Erik Larson’s bestseller set within the lead-up to the Civil War, and a history of a Nineteenth-century mutiny on a Royal Navy vessel.
A number of years ago, these stories might have been a metaphor for the convention. Back then, a good more conservative wing had emerged with literal pirate flags and a rallying cry of “take the ship,” and the previous couple of presidential races pitted a Conservative Baptist Network (CBN) candidate against a more traditionalist nominee.
But the 2024 slate wasn’t split between two factions. Southern Baptists decided amongst six presidential candidates and took a historic three rounds of voting to elect Pressley—an indication of the ranging positions and priorities among the many country’s largest Protestant denomination.
Pressley, a sharp-dressed 55-year-old North Carolina pastor, steps into the presidential role knowing the challenge of finding consensus amongst today’s Southern Baptist leaders from autonomous churches, who sometimes clash with one another on ministry styles, theology, or the work of the convention—and whose clashes are increasingly on display online.
He didn’t discuss with the presidency as a battle to win but as a probability to dampen divisions and convey unity.
“As a convention, we wish to be unified around not only our understanding of the Bible and love for the Bible, love for the gospel, and love for the mission. We’re unified across the Baptist Faith and Message that we affirm, Pressley said. “There’s so much that we will really be glad of.”
The biggest piece of business for Southern Baptists this 12 months was a proposal so as to add a constitutional requirement that SBC churches name only men as “any type of pastor.” A majority were in favor—61 percent—however the vote fell in need of the two-thirds threshold needed so as to add it to the SBC’s governing document.
While Southern Baptists remain complementarian, they’ve taken nuanced positions on this particular move to restate their position of their structure. They disagreed on whether to support the amendment, the rationale for doing so, and the importance of the vote in any respect.
Arguments for and against swirled online in recent months and at auxiliary events in the course of the week of the annual meeting itself, held by groups just like the Center for Baptist Leadership, The Danbury Institute, Founders Ministries, Baptist21, 9Marks, and The Baptist Review.
Jared Cornutt, a founding father of The Baptist Review, said these networks might be helpful for fellowship and friendship inside the convention. But in addition they risk fostering an echo chamber or a way of tribalism.
“There are so many groups,” said Cornutt, who pastors a church in Birmingham. “We’re really seeing how diverse and divided we’re.”
Pressley, lead pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church outside Charlotte and a council member for the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, had taken a stance in favor of the amendment, saying it “is smart” with what he sees the Bible and the Baptist Faith and Message affirm about ministry roles.
But he also saw it as a move for clarity, not a response to a major egalitarian presence within the SBC. Before the vote, Pressley said that, either way, “we’re going to need to be OK … and keep moving forward with the mission and what we do as a complementarian convention.”
The convention has held to that stance for affiliated churches without an explicit mention within the structure. Last 12 months, the SBC deemed Saddleback Church “not in friendly cooperation” with the convention over its female preaching pastors; this 12 months, it did the identical for a Virginia church that espoused egalitarian beliefs.
The SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission was applauded for its work on behalf of life and non secular liberty, though a failed motion to dissolve the entity garnered votes from a large minority.
From the convention stage and in related events, leaders acknowledged the disagreements amongst Southern Baptists but urged them to acknowledge their shared beliefs in Scripture, complementarianism, and evangelization, especially against a society moving further away from those convictions.
“Your enemy will not be on this room,” charged pastor Dean Inserra within the convention sermon, lamenting that denominational infighting can hinder their gospel work.
Pressley has a solid conservative background and a history of involvement in Southern Baptist life. He was elected as the primary vice chairman of the convention a decade ago, serving alongside former president Ronnie Floyd.
He currently holds a position on the board of trustees for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary—Pressley said its president, Albert Mohler, could be his first call in a time of crisis. He is pursuing a doctorate from Southern and holds a master’s from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Fellow North Carolina pastor Chris Lee, who nominated Pressley, said he “operates with a joyful orthodoxy, which shall be a blessing for the SBC.”
Pressley got here to faith as a teen and attended Hickory Grove before occurring to serve on staff. After pastoring churches in Mississippi and Alabama, he returned as Hickory Grove’s senior pastor in 2010.
His church recently reported a volunteer to police over abuse allegations and disclosed the situation to the congregation. This week, he thanked the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force for its resources on addressing abuse. “We wouldn’t have known what to do had this not come up. So there’s some very real and tangible results which have already happened.”
Speaking after the annual meeting concluded on Wednesday evening, Pressley said it was a “strange honor” to have won the election, but “with all that’s occurring in our convention,” he felt like now was his time to run.
“Part of the president’s job,” he said, “is to do all you may by means of influence to make certain that, as a convention of churches, we’re focused on what our mission is.”
