Clint Pressley has been elected the newest president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
Pressley, who pastors Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, was voted president by Southern Baptist delegates, called messengers, after a second run-off vote on Wednesday (June 12). Per SBC bylaws, the winning candidate must receive at least 50% plus one vote to win.
The race began with six nominees: David Allen, Bruce Frank, Mike Keahbone, Jared Moore, Clint Pressley, and Dan Spencer.
Notably, Pastors Bruce Frank and Mike Keahbone, who have both been vocal advocates of sexual abuse reform and have served on abuse reform task forces, were eliminated during the first round of voting.
RELATED: Mike Pence Speaks About Politics, Prayer to Southern Baptists at Indy Event
Jared Moore, pastor of Cumberland Homesteads Baptist Church in Crossville, Tennessee, was also eliminated during the first vote. David Allen, Dean of the Adrian Rogers Center for Preaching at Mid-America Baptist Seminary, was eliminated during the second round of voting.
Pressley won 56.12% of the vote in the second run-off vote, beating out Dan Spencer, who pastors First Baptist Church in Sevierville, Tennessee.
Pressley had been a supporter of the so-called Law Amendment, which would enshrine a ban on ordaining women as pastors in the SBC’s constitution. That amendment failed to pass on Wednesday morning, with 61.45% of messengers voting in favor of it. In order to be ratified, the amendment required a two-thirds majority.
Pressley’s church made headlines the weekend leading into the SBC’s annual meeting, as it was revealed that a volunteer at the church was arrested last month after he was accused of sexual abuse by a student at the church’s Christian school.
“Administration officials immediately reported this disclosure to Child Protective Services, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were dispatched to begin an investigation,” Pressley said in a letter dated in early May.
RELATED: SBC Disfellowships Historic Baptist Church for Position on Ordaining Women as Pastors
Pressley added that per the church’s policy, the allegations were “immediately reported” to law enforcement and child protection authorities. The suspect has been charged with two counts of alleged abuse.
. ){kind=link}