ORLANDO (BP) – Florida Pastor Willy Rice was elected president of the Southern Baptist President during the Tuesday, June 9, afternoon session of the 2026 SBC annual meeting at the Orange County Convention Center.
Rice, pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, garnered 5,217 votes, or 57.56 percent while South Carolina pastor Joshua Powell received 3,821 votes, or 42.16 percent.
Rice was nominated by Adrian Taylor, pastor of Spring Hill Church in Gainesville, Fla.
“The calendar may change, the culture may change, and crowds may change, but God’s Word is still immutable, and it will never change,” Taylor said, adding that Rice would help the Convention move forward. “This is not about protecting the past. It’s about going into the future with faithfulness to the Word of God.”
Vice President
Last year’s second vice president, Craig Carlisle, was elected the first vice president. He earned 3,514 votes, 47.63 percent of the total, in the first round of a three-way race. Paul Purvis collected 2,026 votes, 27.46 percent, and Larry Helms, 1,819 votes, or 24.65 percent. In the runoff, Carlisle led with 3,338 votes or 65.92 percent; Purvis ended with 1,719 votes, or 33.95 percent.
Carlisle is association missions strategist for the Etowah Baptist Association in Gadsden, Ala., and a member of First Baptist Church in Gadsden, Ala. He was nominated by Charles W. Smith, member of Redemption Church near Mobile and president of the University of Mobile. Purvis is pastor of Mission Hill Church in Temple Terrace, Fla.
The second vice president race required a runoff as well, as the totals from the first election were J. Allen Murray with 2,192 votes, or 42.83 percent, Ethan Jago with 2,127 votes or 41.56 percent and Austin Rouse with 783 votes, 15.30 percent.
Murray won the runoff receiving 2,342 votes, or 55.38 percent, with Jago receiving 1,876 votes, or 44.36 percent.
Murray, pastor of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Supply, N.C., was nominated by Chris Griggs, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Welcome, N.C. Jago, pastor of 5 Bridges Church in Panama City Beach, was nominated by Grant Castleberry, pastor of the King’s Chapel in Raleigh, N.C. Rouse, pastor of families and students at Southern Heights Baptist Church in Russellville, Ky., was nominated by Michael Schultz, senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Lewisburg, Ky.
Secretaries
Voting for recording secretary also resulted in a runoff. In the first vote, George Schroeder led with 2,951 votes, 37.79 percent. Travis Kearns took second with 2,944 votes, 37.70 percent, and Jonathan Greer trailed with 1,895 votes, or 24.27 percent.
In the runoff, Kearns received 2,966 votes, or 51.76 percent and Schroeder received 2,758, or 48.13 percent. Kerns, associational missions strategist for the Three Rivers Baptist Association in Taylors, S.C., was nominated by Denny Burk, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor and an associate pastor at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. Greer, pastor of Franklin Creek Baptist Church in Moss Point, Miss., was nominated by Tyler Armstrong, pastor of Woodward Avenue Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Current SBC Registration Secretary Don Currence was re-elected by acclamation. He was nominated by Jay Adkins, pastor of First Baptist Church Westwego, La.
Pastors’ Conference
Wayne Bray, pastor of Upstate Church, a multi-site church in South Carolina, was elected president of the 2027 Pastors Conference, set for next June in Indianapolis. He was nominated by Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.
