Pastor Clint Presley of Hickory Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. according to The Christian StandtPressley won the second runoff election after emissaries gathered in Indianapolis, Indiana, voted for the election. The first two rounds of voting took place Monday night. He received 4,244 votes, or 56.12 percent of the vote, beating five other candidates. Pressley defeated Dan Spencer, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Sevierville, Tennessee, in the second runoff election with 3,305 votes, or 43.71 percent of the vote.
Pressley received 2,289 votes, or 25.52 percent, in the first round of voting. David Allen, dean of the Center for Preaching at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, came in second with 1,896 votes, or 21.14 percent, and Spencer came in third with 1,585 votes, or 17.67 percent.
In fourth place was Bruce Frank, pastor of Biltmore Church in Asheville, North Carolina, with 15.56 percent of the vote. Pastor Jared Moore of Homestead Baptist Church in Crossville, Tennessee, came in fifth with 10.27 percent of the vote, and Pastor Mike Keyborn of First Baptist Church in Lawton, Oklahoma, came in last with 9.68 percent of the vote.
Pressley, Allen and Spencer advanced to the first round of the runoff because they received more than 50% of the votes cast in that round.
As a result of the voting, Pressley came in first with 3,330 votes (39.01%), Spencer came in second with 2,600 votes (30.46%), and Allen came in third with 2,577 votes (30.19%).
However, because none of the three candidates received 50% of the vote, a second runoff election was called. Messengers voted between Pressley, who received the most votes, and Spencer.
Pastor Chris Justice of Lee Park Baptist Church in Monroe, North Carolina, recommended Presley in January, calling him a “joyful, Orthodox man of faith who is committed to the Great Commission and to working together as Southern Baptists.”
Justice added that Pressley “has led the church in planting and revitalizing other churches, sending missionaries and making sacrificial contributions to the Cooperative Program and the Great Commission.”
Pressley will succeed Bert Barber, who was elected SBC president in 2022 and re-elected last year but ultimately stepped down because of a ban on serving two consecutive terms.
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