In my opinion, there are now three viable candidates for SBC president. Wiley Drake has allegedly made it known he is willing to be nominated, but to my knowledge no one has stepped forward to take him up on it. Bill Wagner has been running an innovative campaign, but I only know one person who has said he might vote for him (and even he doesn’t know Wagner’s name, referring to him as “that missionary from California”). I do not believe either of these men to be viable candidates. I have also heard of at least one other individual whom I am reasonably confident will be nominated, but I doubt he will be a viable candidate in light of the present field of contenders. And of course Al Mohler would have been a viable candidate–perhaps the front-runner–but he backed out of the race for health reasons. So I think there are three viable candidates, at least at this point.
Evangelist Junior Hill announced several months ago that he is nominating Georgia pastor Frank Cox for president. Though he likely would not know me from Adam, I have spoken with Cox on at least three different occasions. He is a genuinely nice guy. He is a tireless champion of the Cooperative Program; I participated in a 1998 CP Summit he convened when he was president of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He has been a leader among Georgia Baptists for at least fifteen years–maybe longer. Cox has been a vice president of the SBC and, if rumors are true, has been considered for a number of denominational positions at one time or another. Many folks in Georgia think he will be the next executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He would be a good SBC president.
It was announced today that Missouri pastor John Marshall is nominating retired IMB and LifeWay leader Avery Willis for president. Willis has made numerous contributions to SBC life. He is best known for authoring MasterLife, a discipleship program that has been used in thousands of local churches. His leadership at IMB is well-known and widely appreciated. His missionary experience is a definite plus; many Southern Baptists think it is high time that a long-term missionary serve as convention president (this is actually part of Bill Wagner’s rationale for running). Willis would be a good SBC president.
It was also announced today that Florida pastor Ted Traylor is nominating Georgia pastor Johnny Hunt for president. Hunt was widely considered a front-runner in both 2004 and 2006, though in the end he declined nomination during those years. Hunt is among the most well-known megachurch pastors in the SBC and is arguably the most prominent pastor among the second generation of conservative resurgers. Hunt has a reputation for being a pastor’s pastor because of his church’s mentorship program, the Barnabas-Timothy Conferences, and his one day Shepherd’s Conferences at SBC seminaries. He is also a regular speaker at various pastor’s conferences and evangelism conferences. He would be a good SBC president. In fact, I intend to vote for him in June. Consider this post my endorsement of his candidacy.
Some will argue that those employed by SBC agencies should not endorse candidates. I remain unconvinced. Though I am employed by Southeastern Seminary, I will be at the SBC as a messenger from the First Baptist Church of Durham, North Carolina. I see no compelling reason that SBC employees cannot publicly get behind presidential candidates. The fact is, there is strong historical precedent for not only public support of candidates but even nominations of candidates by convention employees, including agency heads. I see no problem with my endorsing Johnny Hunt.
Others will argue that we do not need another megachurch pastor to be SBC president. Fair enough–I have made that argument myself. But you still judge any field of potential presidents by voting for the best available option among the viable candidates. And as much as I would love to see a layman or pastor of a smaller church serve as convention president, it would have to be the right candidate. And I can think of few such would-be candidates whom I would vote for before I would vote for Johnny Hunt.
Still others will argue that Johnny Hunt is part of the good ole boys network that controls the SBC. I am sympathetic to this concern, but several things should be noted. First, strictly speaking, nobody controls the SBC except the majority of messengers at any given annual meeting. Second, there is nothing wrong with any group of people meeting together to draft their candidate for president. It happens every year. Finally, I’m not convinced that Hunt is the candidate of any good ole boys network. If anything, one could argue that the individuals who make up that nebulous group we call “SBC leaders” have shown they are not of one accord, with some behind Cox, some behind Hunt, and others behind Mohler before he pulled out of the race. And I think that’s healthy.
Some will argue that Hunt should not be president because his church gives only 2.2% of their undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program. Two thoughts. First, the 10% ideal that has been bandied about so much in recent years is not helpful in a denomination where churches are increasingly bypassing that system and giving directly to Nashville, often because of poor stewardship by state conventions. Second, FBC Woodstock’s 2.2% comes out to $393,798. I’m guessing that is way more money given to the CP than 95% of the churches that give 10% or more. So it’s not like the good folks at FBC are thumbing their nose at the SBC. Baptist Press did not report the numbers, but I bet Hunt’s church gave a substantial amount directly to Nashville, individual seminaries, and/or the mission boards, in addition to the almost $400,000 given to the CP. Johnny Hunt financially supports the SBC.
Finally, some will be uncomfortable with Hunt because he has been a critic of Calvinism. In fact, some will think I am off my rocker for supporting him; after all, my theological convictions are widely known. So I think it would be a good idea to camp out here a bit.
First of all, I do not have a problem with Southern Baptists who are uncomfortable with Calvinism. It doesn’t bother me one iota that FBC Woodstock is hosting the John 3:16 Conference. The finer points of Calvinism (pun intended) is one of the two original debates among Baptist people (the other being the terms of communion). I think that Frank Page has shown that it is possible to be opposed to Calvinist theology and still be a great SBC president, even to all the Calvinists with whom he disagrees. I have no reason to suspect that Johnny Hunt would use his position to throw convention Calvinists under the bus.
Second, I know that many Calvinists do not like Hunt because he (allegedly) does not want to have staff members who are Calvinists. I cannot help but wonder how many of these Calvinists would be willing to hire a youth minister or associate pastor who is not a Calvinist. For the record, I personally see no reason why Calvinists and non-Calvinists cannot serve on the same church staff, assuming that the non-Calvinist is not an Arminian and the Calvinist is not more interested in the doctrines of grace than staff unity. But I respect any pastor’s right to desire a staff that is unified on this issue, whichever way that unity may go.
Third, many Calvinists (and some others) will look at FBC Woodstock’s membership statistics and note that there are about 10,000 members who are inactive. This is a fair criticism, but it is also a fair criticism of the vast majority of SBC churches. This is why there are two resolutions being offered this year that will call for Southern Baptists to take church membership more seriously. Instead of torching Hunt for his statistics, I see this as an opportunity to urge a prominent pastor to engage this issue and be a role model for other Southern Baptists. In other words, instead of criticizing Hunt, I am calling upon him to lead the way in our collective recovery of regenerate church membership and integrity in statistical reporting.
Simply put, though I disagree with Hunt on the issue of Calvinism, my disagreements with him on that issue do not negate my respect for him and my belief that he would be a very good convention president. Let me give you four reasons why I think he would make a fine SBC president:
1. Johnny Hunt is a good preacher. What I mean is that, unlike some prominent pastors in the convention, you can always count on Hunt to preach a basically expositional sermon. He is consistently one of the most exegetically sound preachers at the various conferences at which I have heard him speak.
2. Johnny Hunt is widely respected. I know that some younger pastors think he is too traditional and some Calvinists don’t like the fact he doesn’t like Calvinism. But the VAST MAJORITY of Baptists I have known love Hunt and consider him to be a good leader. That counts for a lot in any political contest, even a religious one.
3. Johnny Hunt has a pastor’s heart. I well remember him speaking at Southeastern four years ago and telling us that we will never hear a sermon he has not already preached in some form for his congregation. His reasoning? He is called to pastor FBC Woodstock, not us. How encouraging to see such a well-known speaker putting his local church before all the “important” conferences and chapels.
4. First Baptist Woodstock is one of the most missions-minded churches in the SBC. They have sent out well over 100 missionaries from their church and planted several dozen churches. They are creative in their evangelizing of their community. They are a globally-minded, missional congregation, and I think that every church in the SBC can learn from their example.
In closing, it is without a hint of reservation that I express my excitement that Johnny Hunt will be nominated to be the next president of the SBC. I hope he wins and I trust that, like Frank Page, he will be a statesman at a time when our convention is desperately in need of one.
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