Southern Baptists Re-Elect President Johnny Hunt to 2nd Term
Georgia pastor Johnny M. Hunt was re-elected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday, during the first day of the denomination's annual gathering.
Hunt, a Native American who pastors the megachurch First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga., was elected to a second term without opposition and said only one thing at the press conference following his election.
"I guess the only statement is 'Glad to see you,'" said Hunt.
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Last year, Hunt received nearly 53 percent of the vote of over 5,000 SBC messengers – representatives of local SBC churches – during SBC's annual meeting and was enthusiastically received at a time of decline.
In nominating Hunt for a second one-year term as president, Ken Whitten, pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Fla., said it was "real obvious" to him that "Dr. Johnny Hunt is God's sovereign choice to lead Southern Baptists for such a time as this."
"This past year, we have watched Dr. Hunt and we have seen a man with a mission on his mind and a burden on his heart," Whitten said, according to Baptist Press. "He has been like Moses: He knows the ways of God. He has been like David: A man who has a heart for God. He has been like Daniel: With courage from God. He has crisscrossed our nation to meet with young pastors and future leaders."
After years of being asked to lead the largest Protestant denomination in the country, Hunt sensed a calling to accept the nomination last year and ran against five other nominees.
He succeeded the Rev. Frank Page, who served two one-year terms.
