Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, was re-elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) by a large majority Tuesday, June 10, at the SBC’s Annual Meeting. David Morrill, an author at the polemical news site Protestia, challenged Pressley’s re-election but received 408 votes while Pressley received 5,567.
Clint Pressley Re-Elected to 2nd Term as President of the SBC
SBC presidents serve one year at a time and no more than two years. One exception was the tenure of Pastor J.D. Greear, which was extended when the SBC Annual Meeting was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is traditional for the sitting SBC president to be re-elected without being challenged. The SBC’s previous president, Bart Barber, was the first president in 10 years to be challenged prior his re-election in 2023; that break with tradition continued this year with the challenge to Pressley’s re-election.
Messengers reconvened after lunch Tuesday afternoon at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, where they took nominations for the SBC’s next president. First, Michael Criner, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Rockwall, Texas, nominated SBC President Clint Pressley.
RELATED: SBC President Clint Pressley Will Be Nominated for a Second Term
Criner said his reasons for nominating Pressley for a second term include that Pressley has earned the trust of SBC delegates, who are known as messengers.
“Firstly, Clint loves being a Southern Baptist,” said Criner. “Clint loves our convention because it was a Southern Baptist church where he heard the gospel and believed Jesus as Lord.” It was through Southern Baptist institutions that Pressley received his call to ministry, met his wife, and dedicated himself to expository preaching.
“Clint Pressley loves being a Southern Baptist, and he’s given his life to it,” said Criner, noting that Pressley had pastored multiple churches and has encouraged donations to the SBC’s Cooperative Program, as well as to the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong funds.
Pressley “has represented Southern Baptists so well,” Criner said, stating that one of Pressley’s “most admirable qualities” is that “in every environment that he’s been in this last year, he has joyfully pointed us to who we are, the very best of who we are and the very best of what we do: our confession and our cooperation for the Great Commission.”
After Criner nominated Pressley, Pastor Chris Cunningham of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Big Spring, Texas, took the podium to nominate David Morrill, a Southern Baptist with Applewood Baptist Church in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and an author at Protestia.
“It is good to be a Southern Baptist, yes,” said Cunningham, “but it’s even better to be a Southern Baptist who stands in the truth, on the truth, and for the truth. And with that, I’m not going to tell you ‘peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”
 by a large majority Tuesday, June 10, at the SBC’s Annual Meeting. David Morrill, an author at the polemical news site Protestia, challenged Pressley’s re-election but received 408 votes compared to Pressley’s 5,567.){kind=link}