Pastor Bart Barber joins stable of SBC presidential candidates after Willy Rice withdraws
Just over two months before messengers vote at the denomination’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California, Pastor Bart Barber of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, has joined the stable of pastors jockeying to become the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Barber’s candidacy was announced Thursday by SBC Pastors’ Conference President Matt Henslee, who told the Baptist Press that “Barber is what Southern Baptists are when they are at their best.”
“As a church, First Baptist Farmersville gives generously through the Cooperative Program and directly supports missionaries and church planters. As a pastor, Barber is actively involved in the local association, state convention, and the national level of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Henslee said. “He preaches the Word faithfully, reaches the lost passionately, and truly believes Baptists are at their best when they are working together to advance the kingdom.”
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The announcement comes a day after Florida Pastor Willy Rice, who was the first of now four pastors to publicly announce he would accept the challenge of vying for the role, revealed on Twitter Wednesday that he was withdrawing his candidacy because it was drawing unwanted attention to his church and the people he loves.
“I’m hereby withdrawing my name as a candidate for the SBC presidency this summer. The last few days have been very difficult and I’ve found myself in an untenable position of watching people I love in a church I love done immeasurable harm simply because my name was being considered for this office,” Rice said in his statement.
Rice’s statement came shortly after he was forced to remove one of his deacons from leadership at Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, where he leads, due to the SBC’s ban on individuals who have committed sexual abuse from church leadership roles.
The former deacon, Jeff Ford, had confessed to being in a relationship with an 18-year-old female student at a high school where he worked as a teacher while he was married.
“I do hope another candidate will emerge whose ministry has been characterized by leading in the local church with a passion for the Great Commission. I will continue to contribute to Southern Baptist life and cooperative efforts where I am able, but my primary focus will be as the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church as long as God allows me to serve in that position,” Rice said. “My calling is to my local church, my family and to the mission field God has given me. I wish to return my time and attention to those things.”
Rice had announced his candidacy last month just a day after Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton announced he would break tradition and not seek reelection following his first year in office.
In his support of Barber for the SBC’s top executive role, Henslee described him as a caring family man who can unite the denomination.
“Whether I was starting in ministry about 10 miles from him or pastoring churches 600 miles from him, Bart has been a phone call away for counsel or help as I navigated the ups and downs of ministry,” he said. “Now as his associational missionary and fellow pastor, I have a front-row seat to a man who loves his family well, shepherds his church with care, and still finds time to encourage pastors and promote unity in our Convention.”
Other candidates vying for the SBC presidency are: Tom Ascol, longtime senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, and Robin Hadaway, senior professor of missions at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The SBC’s annual meeting is expected to run from June 14-15.
