This week in Christian history: SBC's ‘conservative resurgence,’ Charleston shooting

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, June 12, 2022

SBC's 'Conservative Resurgence' begins – June 12, 1979

This week marks the anniversary of when the Southern Baptist Convention elected the Rev. Adrian P. Rogers as president of the denomination, marking what many consider the beginning of the “Conservative Resurgence.” 

Rogers, pastor of the 11,000‐member Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, was elected on the first ballot with 51.3% of the vote among the approximately 18,000 messengers at the annual meeting.

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Michael Foust of Baptist Press noted in a 2004 piece that Rogers' election marked “the beginning of the conservative resurgence,” with theological conservatives gradually wresting control of the SBC from more theologically moderate and progressive leaders.

“From 1979 to 1990, conservatives and moderates struggled for control of the denomination, nominating opposing candidates for convention president. Attendance swelled. Media interest grew,” wrote Foust.

“In 1985 alone, a record 45,000 messengers attended the convention, spilling into overflow seating. That same year Phil Donahue — then the king of daytime talk — devoted an entire program to the SBC controversy, as did ABC’s ‘Nightline.’”