Florida Pastor Willy Rice has announced that he will allow himself to be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at the denomination’s next meeting in June 2026 in Orlando, Florida.
Rice is the pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, where he has served more than two decades.
“On this Reformation Day,” Rice said in a video released on Oct. 31, “those of us who value church history remember the courageous reformers who challenged the church in their time and ushered in an era of renewal that would spread across Europe and carry the gospel light to the nations.”
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“One of the values of that great movement was semper reformanda—always reforming,” Rice continued. “The church is always reforming. We receive correction, adjust course, and embrace renewal.”
“It is with that hope that I announce today my intention to allow my name to be placed in nomination for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Rice said.
Rice said that having been a Baptist pastor for over 40 years and as a fourth-generation Florida Baptist, he feels that “the seams of our fellowship have been stretched and torn.”
“Can you honestly look back over the last few years and conclude that we are more united and more on mission?” Rice asked. “Or do you feel like I do—and like so many I hear from—that there are real concerns that call for serious reflection, humble correction, and a new day of renewal?”
“In this hour of apostasy and idolatry, we need to reaffirm and restate our convictions. Such a time calls not for fuzzy lines and a mushy middle. It calls for clarity and courage,” urged Rice. He went on to encourage Southern Baptists to look ahead to the two-millennia anniversary of the giving of the Great Commission, which is estimated to occur in 2033, and to renew their commitment to global missions.
“On this day, when we mark the historic beginning to a Reformation that took place long ago, let’s pray for God to do a renewing work in our time,” said Rice.
