ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS) — A Florida pastor who has argued that the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has become too woke and liberal was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday (June 9).

Willy Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, received 5,217 votes — 57% of the votes cast. His opponent, Josh Powell, lead pastor of Taylors First Baptist Church in South Carolina, received 3,821 votes, or 42%.

Rice’s election is a triumph for critics who claim that the denomination has lost its way in recent years. He has alleged that the SBC’s sexual abuse crisis was more hoax than reality and said that the denomination’s leaders had followed the culture more than the Bible.

The two candidates were similar. Both are conservative. Both are in favor of a ban on churches with women pastors. Both are fans of missionary work and are lifelong Southern Baptists. Both claimed that concerns that the SBC had a sexual abuse crisis were overblown

But they offered disparate views of the state of the convention during a lunchtime forum, held a few hours before the election, during the SBC’s gathering at Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, this week.

“I’m afraid, you know, if we are not careful, we’re going to hug ourselves to death,” Rice told the audience at the forum, hosted by Baptist21, a group of younger pastors. “All we are going to do is talk about how great we are. We are going to wake up one day and be Kodak or Blockbuster.”

Rice told attendees that Southern Baptist leaders were led astray by what he called a “cultural riptide” on issues of race, social justice and politics. That led to bad decisions, which he said have undermined trust in the SBC’s leadership.

He defended those who say the SBC has lost its way.

“Look, if you look at the last 10 years and say, ‘I think it’s been great, we haven’t had any drift … we weren’t caught in any kind of riptide,’ well, then I don’t know that I could say anything here today that would make you change your life,” he said. “To me, it was obvious.”

Rice also faced questions about some of his supporters. He has had close ties to the Center for Baptist Leadership, a group that claims that the SBC has become liberal. That group is led by former Trump administration staffer William Wolfe, known for his controversial social media posts.

Texas pastor Juan Sanchez, one of the panel speakers, said that some of Rice’s supporters “say pretty intense stuff online” and asked what role those supporters might have if he became president.

“We can play that game all day long,” Rice said, adding that people with all kinds of viewpoints say controversial things online. Rice said he wants to listen to everyone and that sometimes people who say harsh things online have a point. 

“Unity is not telling people to hush,” Rice said. “It’s listening, it’s sitting down and saying, ‘tell me why you’re bothered.’”

At the forum, Powell cited a Bible verse about avoiding those who stir up divisions. And he said that despite the SBC controversies, the convention is making a difference in the world. More missionaries are going out, and more churches are being planted, he said.

“These are all things that we can absolutely celebrate, and if I am a cheerleader, I will cheer for that all day long,” Powell told attendees.

Powell’s more optimistic view failed to sway the messengers, or church delegates to the conference who elect the president.

Since COVID-19, a group of critics, known in the past as the “SBC pirates,” have been concerned that the denomination had become too woke, mainly because they felt leaders had been too concerned about social justice and racism. Two previous presidential candidates who ran on a platform to reform the denomination — Florida pastor Tom Ascol and Georgia pastor Mike Stone — lost.

Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, said Rice’s election was a vindication for critics.

“Willy Rice’s election proves that there is an appetite in the SBC for real conservative reform and renewal,” Wolfe told RNS in an interview. “We believe his victory is a major vindication of the issues we have addressed and fought for over the last few years in the SBC.”

Wolfe, who endorsed Rice and posted a number of interviews with the Florida pastor online, hopes the president-elect will help the SBC get past recent controversies. “We pray that his leadership will successfully help Southern Baptists forge a brighter and better path out of a time of disagreement and decline, one built on the foundation of sound doctrine and increased accountability and empowering a courageous, conservative and biblical witness to the world,” he said.

Rice’s election raises questions about the future of the SBC’s abuse reforms. The Florida pastor, who dropped out of the SBC presidential race in 2022, over concerns about past misconduct by a leader at his church, has said that any abuse should be reported to the police. But he also has said the SBC’s response to abuse went wrong.

A 2021 report from Guidepost Solutions found that convention leaders had long sought to downplay the issue of sexual abuse and had stonewalled efforts to address the issue on a national basis. That led to a series of reforms, which have largely stalled.

“Those who place institution and platform above the vulnerable rallied to be sure that no abuse reform would move forward,” said Tiffany Thigpen, a SBC abuse survivor and activist. “They call us hoaxes and liars, few respond to call it evil and denounce their callousness, yet they still become your top respected leaders.”

In 2022, the SBC passed a resolution apologizing to Thigpen and other survivors for ignoring their concerns and for not taking action to prevent abuse.

“That is a sign of these times where the church forgets what matters,” she said.

SBC delegates also suspended one of the denomination’s standing rules, paving the way for a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar churches that have women pastors or that allow women to preach on Sunday mornings. Usually, a proposed amendment faces a one-year delay before a vote but the messengers voted to suspend that requirement. Two similar amendments failed in the past. A vote on the proposed amendment is set for Tuesday morning. The amendment will need to receive a two-thirds majority in two consecutive years to be approved.

After the election, Rice praised his opponent, saying the SBC needed “1000 pastors like him” in a social media post. And he said he hopes the SBC will enter “a season of reconciliation and renewal” after years of controversy.

“It is my hope to listen and to serve and I ask for your prayers, your patience, and your continued cooperation as we continue in the good work God has given us to do,” Rice said in a post on X.