President of the Southern Baptist Convention

Template:Short description Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists The president of the Southern Baptist Convention heads the convention and is elected at the annual meeting. The president's duties include presiding over the annual meeting; appointing members to SBC committees; serving as an ex officio member of the board of SBC entities including the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board, and Lifeway Christian Resources; and representing the SBC to other Baptist denominations and to the press.

Although the SBC Bylaws do not specifically state that only a male may be elected as president, no female has ever served as such (the majority of presidents have been pastors of churches, which according to the Baptist Faith and Message, the office of pastor is limited to men only). Any person may be nominated and there is no requirement that a candidate announce their intent to run prior to the annual meeting (during the 2022 Annual Meeting, three candidates announced their intent to run, and a fourth candidate was nominated at the annual meeting). If only one candidate is nominated, the secretary of the SBC (or any designee) may cast the ballot. If three or more candidates are nominated, and no candidate receives a majority on the first ballot, subsequent ballots shall carry all candidates in the top 50 percent of the prior ballot. Proxy voting is not allowed.

Under SBC Bylaws, the term is for one year, and a candidate can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms, after which he must sit out a year before standing for re-election. Prior to the current bylaws, presidents could serve more than two terms and frequently did: P.H. Mell served a total of 16 years (over two terms spanning eight years each), the most of any president. The service year overlaps with two calendar years as the annual meeting is held in June, and the term starts upon completion of the annual meeting (thus, at the annual meeting, the incumbent president serves until the annual meeting concludes, after which the elected president—whether incumbent or new—will begin his term).

Since the advent of the current bylaws, the custom has been for the president to serve two consecutive terms, but not run again after the one-year stand-down period; however, it is not uncommon for a president to serve only one term and then step down and not run again. But, two persons have served as president for more than the customary two terms since that time:

• Adrian Rogers served as president for a single term in 1979–1980 and then again for two consecutive terms in 1987–1988 and 1988–1989.
• When the 2020 Annual Meeting was cancelled for the first time in 75 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, incumbent president J.D. Greear's term was extended to a third year despite the normal term limit, since his replacement could not be elected until the next meeting.

List

No.	Image	President	Years in Office	State
1	File:William Bullein Johnson.jpg		1845–1851	South Carolina
2			1851–1859	Virginia and Tennessee
3	File:RichardFuller.jpg		1859–1863	South Carolina
4	File:Patrick Hues Mell.png		1863–1871	Georgia
5	File:JamesPetriguBoyce.jpg		1872–1879	South Carolina and Kentucky
6	File:Patrick Hues Mell.png		1880–1887	Georgia
7	File:JamesPetriguBoyce.jpg		1888	Kentucky
8			1889–1898	Alabama
9	File:William J. Northen.jpg		1899–1901	Georgia
10	File:James Philip Eagle.jpg		1902–1904	Arkansas
11	File:Edwin William Stephens (1849–1931).png		1905–1907	Missouri
12	File:Joshua Levering (1845-1935) (10506733086) (cropped1).jpg		1908–1910	Maryland
13			1911–1913	Georgia
14			1914–1916	Georgia
15	File:James Bruton Gambrell (circa 1920).jpg		1917–1920	Texas
16	File:Edgar Young Mullins (1860–1928).png		1921–1923	Kentucky
17			1924–1926	Virginia
18	File:GeorgeWTruett.jpg		1927–1929	Texas
19			1930–1932	South Carolina
20			1933	Tennessee
21			1934–1935	Louisiana
22			1936–1938	Kentucky
23			1939–1940	Texas
24			1941–1942	Louisiana
25	File:Patrick neff.jpg		1944–1946	Texas
26			1947–1948	Georgia
27			1949–1951	Tennessee
28			1952–1953	Louisiana
29			1954–1955	Oklahoma
30			1956–1957	North Carolina
31	File:BrooksHays36.jpg		1958–1959	Arkansas
32			1960–1961	Tennessee
33			1962–1963	Oklahoma
34			1964	Texas
35			1965–1966	Tennessee
36			1967–1968	Tennessee
37			1969–1970	Texas
38			1971–1972	North Carolina
39			1973–1974	Mississippi
40			1975–1976	Alabama
41			1976–1977	Tennessee
42			1977–1978	Texas
43	File:Adrian Rogers.jpg		1979–1980	Tennessee
44			1980–1982	Oklahoma
45	File:Jimmy Draper November 2013 (cropped).JPG		1982–1984	Texas
46	File:Dr. Charles Stanley, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church, and founder of In Touch Ministries, thanks U.S. Soldiers and their families for their service to the nation during his inspirational speech at 131106-A-PP444-045.jpg		1984–1986	Georgia
47	File:Adrian Rogers.jpg		1986–1988	Tennessee
48			1988–1990	Florida
49			1990–1992	Texas
50	File:Dr Young.jpg		1992–1994	Texas
51			1994–1996	Florida
52			1996–1998	Oklahoma
53			1998–2000	Texas
54			2000–2002	Georgia
55	File:Jack Graham Headshot.jpg		2002–2004	Texas
56			2004-2006	Florida
57			2006–2008	South Carolina
58			2008–2010	Georgia
59			2010–2012	Georgia
60	File:2015-05-07 Fred Luter Elizabeth Luter (cropped).jpg		2012–2014	Louisiana
61			2014–2016	Arkansas
62	File:Steve Gaines (cropped).jpg		2016–2018	Tennessee
63			2018–2021	North Carolina
64			2021–2022	Alabama
65			2022–2024	Texas
66	File:Clintpressley2021.webp	Clint Pressley	2024–present	North Carolina

See also

• List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people