Is the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in need of reform, or not?
If you believe the SBC needs reform and renewal as it fulfills the Great Commission, then Willy Rice is your candidate. If you believe the SBC has a lot to celebrate and that we should focus more on the Great Commission than alleged problems, then Josh Powell is your candidate. Willy Rice is more concerned with identifying and addressing problems, while Josh Powell is more concerned with celebrating SBC victories. Rice focuses on uniting in renewal and reform; Powell focuses on uniting in remembering and focus.
Every year, thousands of representatives from SBC churches, called messengers, meet to decide the direction of the SBC. They vote on resolutions, they hear reports, and they have elections for various officer positions, including that of SBC President. The SBC President serves as moderator of the annual meeting, but his primary lasting influence in the convention comes in appointing the trustees of the twelve SBC entities through a series of committees. These entities include the International Mission Board (IMB), the domestic North American Mission Board (NAMB), and the six SBC seminaries—seminaries that train thousands of students every year and have an outsized influence in evangelicalism. These trustees serve anywhere from four to ten years and are charged with guarding the direction and fidelity of these entities.
This year’s annual meeting is especially significant, and as you read the issues below, you’ll see why. In this article, I’ll highlight some SBC metrics, introduce the two presidential candidates, and then give a ten-point comparison of where they stand on various issues (pulled directly from the many interviews they’ve done in the past few months).
Metrics on the State of the SBC
The SBC has seen significant successes and difficulties in the past few years, as the data below shows. Baptisms and attendance have increased from the major drop during COVID-19. Cooperative Program giving continues. The number of SBC churches has remained relatively consistent even as many denominations experience sharp decline in the closures of their churches. Every year new church planters are sent out, and new missionaries are commissioned. There is much to celebrate.
But there are also major questions about the direction of the convention. One recent statistical study extrapolated approximately 1,844 female pastors in 1,225 SBC churches,1 which puts these churches in direct contradiction with both 1 Timothy 2:12 and the SBC’s statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message.2 The so-called sexual abuse crisis has cost the SBC upwards of ten million dollars, and litigation is ongoing.3 Figure 1 gives a nuanced picture when it comes to overall SBC membership, attendance, baptisms, number of churches, and Cooperative Program giving over the last fifteen years, from 2011 to 2025 (see Appendix A for supporting figures).4
1. Kevin McClure, “How Many Female Pastors Are in the SBC?” American Reformer, June 10, 2023.
2. Southern Baptist Convention, The Baptist Faith and Message (Nashville, TN: Southern Baptist Convention, 2000).
3. Mark Coppenger, “Stewardship of Our SBC Land,” Christ Over All, March 6, 2026.
4. All five series indexed to 2011 = 100: a line above 100 is higher than its 2011 level, below 100 is lower. Key: Churches (gray), Cooperative Program giving (pink), membership (green), SBC Sunday worship attendance (gold), and baptisms (coral). The attendance metric changed to in-person-only beginning with the 2021 ACP; the 2012 and 2015–2018 attendance values were published by Lifeway only in rounded form and are plotted from its reported percent changes. Data collected from Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, “SBC Annuals,” accessed June 1, 2026.
To summarize, this graph shows a decrease in membership, attendance, and giving, with a slight increase in baptisms and a stabilization in the number of churches. What is the reason for an increase in baptisms on one hand but a decrease in membership, attendance, and giving on the other? That’s debated. Some, like Willy Rice, see this in part as stemming from a lack of institutional trust, a stretch of the “seams of our fellowship.”5 Others, like Josh Powell, believe this is due to insufficient celebration and the SBC drifting from its main purpose of cooperation in the Great Commission. But who exactly are these men who are vying for the direction of the SBC?
Who Are the Presidential Candidates?
Both of these pastors have impressive SBC credentials. Josh Powell is a third-generation South Carolina Baptist pastor. He pastors Taylors First Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina. He graduated from Southern Seminary and served as president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention and chair of the SBTS Trustee board.
5. Willy Rice, “SBC Future at Stake: Willy Rice Calls Churches to Rise, SBC26,” video interview, accessed May 25, 2026.
Willy Rice has been a pastor for forty-two years and has spent twenty-two of those years at Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida. He is a graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and served as the president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference and the Florida Baptist Convention, a trustee at the North American Mission Board, and he has served as chairman of the Committee on Committees and the Committee on Nominations. Rice created a website for his candidacy that outlines seven pillars of his platform: convictional clarity, denominational accountability, missional integrity, cultural responsibility, biblical unity, global intentionality, and spiritual vitality.6
6. Willy Rice, “A Call for Baptist Renewal,” Baptist Renewal, accessed June 1, 2026.
Both of these men are pastors, both have served in SBC leadership positions, and both of them are committed to their local churches. Their fundamental distinction is their perspective on the SBC, which we’ll turn to now.
A Ten-Point Comparison
For this article, I drew from every interview that Josh Powell and Willy Rice have done in the past few months as they have run for SBC President—including our Christ Over All interviews—and the transcripts totaled around 200 pages.7 I then directly compared the two candidates’ positions on various topics of interest to the SBC. This functions as a cheat sheet of sorts to help SBC messengers accurately determine which candidate better suits their convictions. The text under each candidate has been summarized from the candidate’s own words, with footnotes for verification.
7. Christ Over All is thankful to God for Robert Stewart, who converted all of the interviews into transcript form.
8. Willy Rice, “Pastor Willy’s SBC Presidential Announcement,” YouTube video, October 31, 2025.
9. Josh Powell, “Interview with 2026 Presidential Nominee Josh Powell,” interview by Brandon Porter and Laura Erlanson, SBC This Week (Baptist Press), podcast audio, 51:06, May 18, 2026.
10. Willy Rice, “Episode 165: Interview with SBC Presidential Candidate Willy Rice,” interview by Nate Akin, Baptist 21 Podcast, podcast audio, 2026.
11. Willy Rice, David Schrock, and Stephen Wellum, “5.17 Willy Rice, David Schrock, & Stephen Wellum — Getting to Know SBC Presidential Candidate Willy Rice,” Christ Over All, podcast audio, March 23, 2026.
12. Powell, “Interview with Josh Powell.”
13. Josh Powell, “SBC Presidential Q&A with The Baptist Paper: Josh Powell,” The Baptist Paper, May 20, 2026.
14. Rice, “Episode 165.”
15. Rice, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Willy Rice.”
16. Rice, “SBC Future at Stake.”
17. Powell, “Interview with Josh Powell.”
18. Powell, “Interview with Josh Powell.”
19. Willy Rice, “Waking Up in a Woke World: Willy Rice on His Perspective Shift on Abuse Reform,” Center for Baptist Leadership Podcast, podcast audio, May 29, 2024.
20. Josh Powell, David Schrock, and Stephen Wellum, “5.16 Josh Powell, David Schrock, & Stephen Wellum — Getting to Know SBC Presidential Candidate Josh Powell,” Christ Over All, podcast audio, March 18, 2026.
21. Rice, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Willy Rice.”
22. Powell, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Josh Powell.”
23. Willy Rice, “S3 Ep. 2: Willy Rice on the SBC Presidency,” interview by David Sons and Jared Cornutt, The Baptist Review Podcast, podcast audio, March 5, 2026.
24. Josh Powell, “Special Edition: Interview with Josh Powell,” interview by D.J. Horton, From the Pulpit to the Pickup (Living Worthy Ministries), podcast audio, 2026.
25. Rice, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Willy Rice.”
26. Rice, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Willy Rice.”
27. Powell, “Interview with Josh Powell.”
28. Powell, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Josh Powell.”
29. Rice, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Willy Rice.”
30. Rice, “Willy Rice on the SBC Presidency.”
31. Josh Powell, “SBC Under Fire: Josh Powell Speaks on What’s Really Broken,” video interview, March 17, 2026.
32. Willy Rice, “Interview with 2026 Presidential Nominee Willy Rice,” interview by Brandon Porter and Laura Erlanson, SBC This Week (Baptist Press), podcast audio, May 18, 2026.
33. Willy Rice, “I have and will continue to support any measure that moves us toward greater unity and clarity on this issue. . . .,” X, June 3, 2026.
34. Rice, “Interview with Willy Rice.”
35. Powell, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Josh Powell.”
36. Joshua W. Powell, “I am thankful for Dr. Mohler’s leadership and pursuit of clarity on this issue. . . .,” X, June 2, 2026.
37. Powell, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Josh Powell.”
38. Rice, “Waking Up in a Woke World.”
39. Rice, “Willy Rice on the SBC Presidency.”
40. Willy Rice, “TS&TT: A Call for Baptist Renewal in the SBC,” interview by Tom Ascol, The Sword & The Trowel (Founders Ministries), podcast audio, April 2, 2026.
41. Rice, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Willy Rice.”
42. Rice, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Willy Rice.”
43. Powell, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Josh Powell.”
44. Powell, Schrock, and Wellum, “Getting to Know Josh Powell.”
45. Powell, “Interview with Josh Powell.”
46. Powell, “SBC Presidential Q&A.”
Willy Rice and Josh Powell agree on many things: messengers need more time at meetings, the convention should be led by pastors, women should not be pastors, so-called DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) practices have no place in our trustee appointments, and the abuse reform movement within the SBC became a weapon used against innocent people.
| A Comparison of Willy Rice and Josh Powell’s SBC Presidential Platforms | ||
|---|---|---|
| Topic | Willy Rice | Josh Powell |
| 1. Why do you want to be SBC president? | • To bring renewal and reformation to the convention I love.8 | • To serve the convention that has served me my whole life.9 |
| 2. The state of the SBC | • There has been a leftward drift, and we got caught in a “woke riptide.” Third Wayism is harmful; we should speak to the culture.10 • We are far less united now. Lack of transparency, trust, and freedom to speak.11 | • We need to be more celebratory of increased baptisms, engaged people groups, and churches planted.12 The SBC has lost focus and should spend less time on its problems and more time on its mission.13 |
| 3. Major Problems in the SBC | • We need to build trust again. We need to reject Third Wayism [publicly distancing oneself from the ideological left and right while actually leaning to the left], as we are coming out of an era of compromise: a silent voice in the culture because of “missiology effectiveness.”14 • There is a foundation that is marred by pragmatism. We were too interested in appearing relevant and appealing to the culture.15 • We need to remove arrogant institutionalism.16 | • We need to reorient ourselves towards the Great Commission focus. We are the best when we focus on the mission and not on the problems. We are too distracted by problems and need to focus on the mission that unites us.17 • We need to train up the next generation of pastors for the church and mission.18 |
| 4. Stance on Abuse Reform | • The sexual abuse reform movement is about a lot more than sexual abuse reform: “If this were only about stopping predators, helping children, giving churches training and equipping, there would be no controversy.”19 | • We have had wicked men who have preyed upon people in the church, but we do not have a sexual abuse crisis. We should discipline out sexual abuse cases.20 |
| 5. ERLC | • The ERLC needs a 180-degree redirection to serve the convictions of the SBC instead of lecturing us. It needs a radical turn.21 | • The ERLC has one more shot to focus on our mission again and speak on behalf of SBC pastors.22 |
| 6. NAMB | • We need financial accountability and transparency to messengers with questions.23 | • I am thankful for all the work NAMB has done, like planting 12,000 churches in the last sixteen years. We should celebrate our missionaries.24 |
| 7. On Appointing Trustees | • We need trustees who are convictional, courageous, and clear. “We don’t need cheerleaders and we don’t need cynics, but we need people who will tell us the truth and then work for better solutions.”25 • We must admit and correct our mistakes of failing to appoint fairly and not based on DEI.26 | • They must be a believer, demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, be a member of an SBC church, be active in their local church, and be committed to the BFM 2000.27 • We must consider the heart and meritocracy of the trustee and not base it on DEI, intersectionality, or quotas.28 |
| 8. Institutional Trust | • There is a lack of financial transparency. Lack of space for opposing voices to be heard. Trustees need far more information than they are given. “When trust is low, transparency needs to be high.”29 • I would appoint a task force dedicated to financial transparency and reporting of our entities.30 | • I am confident in our system and believe the leaders are good, faithful men who have led well. I do not have diminished trust in them. Trustees should have more training to know their role.31 |
| 9. How Will You Address the Problem of Female Pastors in the SBC? | • I would appoint a task force to write a report and to present clear definitions of “pastor” with recommendations for action.32 • Supports Dr. Mohler’s Truth and Unity Amendment (both the original and revision).33 • Instruct the Credentials Committee with recommendations from the task force.34 | • The BFM 2000 is clear. Leave it to the messengers to remove individual churches, like we did with Saddleback Church. We do not need another task force. There is a disciplinary process initiated by the messengers (including LGBTQ-related and racism-related issues).35 • Supports Dr. Mohler’s Truth and Unity Amendment (both the original and revision).36 • The annual Credentials Committee needs to be done away with and replaced with a committee established thirty days before the convention.37 |
| 10. What Does the SBC Need? | • We need a conservative renewal, as we saw with the Conservative Resurgence.38 • Appoint task forces.39 • Prioritize the leadership of churches and pastors and not institutions.40 • Leaders need to admit their mistakes and open the door to more conversation.41 • We need to have seven Pillars of Renewal: convictional clarity, denominational accountability, missional integrity, cultural responsibility, biblical unity, global intentionality, and spiritual vitality.42 | • We don’t need to push a specific agenda, but to reorient ourselves to the Great Commission as our ultimate goal.43 • We need faithfulness and cooperation. Plant healthy churches and train future pastors.44 • We need to celebrate what makes the SBC great and why we cooperate in the first place: train pastors, plant churches, and reach the nations.45 • “We are at our best when we are laser-focused on the Great Commission.”46 |
However, their notable differences are vast, and they coalesce around three primary areas: trust, female pastors, and what the SBC most needs.
Trust
Again, Josh Powell is confident in the SBC system and trusts the institutions to manage the funds, to follow the convictional stream of the messengers, and to fulfill the Great Commission. Willy Rice thinks that trust needs to be rebuilt by opening the door for more conversations from the messengers, by giving information on financial transparency, and by creating another task force to make recommendations on the fraught issue of female pastors within the SBC.
Solving the Problem of Female Pastors
Willy Rice and Josh Powell have both supported the Law Amendment, and then the Law-Sanchez Amendment, which would have clarified that SBC churches are those that employ only qualified men as pastors. Those amendments barely failed to get a consecutive two-thirds majority, and in the ensuing years, the nine-person Credentials Committee has allowed SBC churches that support and affirm female pastors to remain in friendly cooperation with the SBC. This year, Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has proposed another amendment called the Truth and Unity Amendment. This amendment would—in accordance with God’s word in 1 Timothy 2:12 and the SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message—clarify that SBC churches are those that do not have women in the office of pastor or have women who function as pastors by preaching. Both candidates have signaled support for this amendment (in addition to current SBC President Clint Pressley47), but both also have very different proposed solutions to this problem in the meantime.
47. Clint Pressley, “Thank you Dr Mohler! Looking forward to this year’s SBC in Orlando. Let’s get this thing done! Hope to see everyone in a just a couple weeks!,” X, May 18, 2026.
Willy Rice would enact a task force on female pastors to provide the recommendations needed for both the messengers and the Credentials Committee. If the Truth and Unity Amendment gets a supermajority vote this year in 2026 (66.7%), then the task force will report out on their recommendations on the crucial second year of the Amendment’s vote in 2027.
Josh Powell would like to do away with the Credentials Committee except for thirty days before each Annual Meeting. He trusts the SBC messengers to both uncover churches in unhealthy cooperation with the Baptist Faith and Message and to promptly remove them. He points to the removal of Saddleback Church and others at past Annual Meetings as a sign that the process is working. But he does not explain how the SBC would remove the over 1,225 churches with female pastors in the two-day window of the annual meetings.48
48. McClure, “How Many Female Pastors Are in the SBC?”
What the SBC Most Needs
Rice is determined to bring conservative renewal as he sees the SBC drifting leftward because of cultural compromise, female pastors, and financial lack of transparency. He says, “We need a conservative renewal very much like what we saw back in the eighties and nineties, where we come back to who we are and to our mission that is rooted in doctrinal clarity and doctrinal conviction.”49 On the other hand, Josh Powell believes we must reorient ourselves towards our goal of the Great Commission. Instead of constantly focusing on problems, we must celebrate our victories and strive to be greater proponents of the gospel to the world. He says, “There’s two options we can take. There’s those in our convention that want to focus on our problems. . . . I would rather us focus on the priorities, because I believe that if you focus on them, you cannot focus on the priorities and the problems at the same time. You have to put your focus on one. And Southern Baptists are at their best when they’re laser focused on the priority of the Great Commission that we do together.”50 To highlight their differences more clearly, I condensed the earlier table into a short summary:
49. Rice, “Waking Up in a Woke World.”
50. Powell, “Interview with Josh Powell.”
| A Summary of Willy Rice and Josh Powell’s 2026 SBC Presidential Priorities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Topic | Willy Rice | Josh Powell |
| 1. Why Do You Want to Be SBC President? | To bring renewal. | To serve. |
| 2. The State of the SBC? | In need of clarity, accountability, integrity, responsibility, unity, intentionality, and vitality. | Too focused on problems distracting from the Great Commission. |
| 3. Major Problems in the SBC? | Compromise, pragmatism, and lack of transparency | Too little Great Commission focus and celebration; great need to train future pastors. |
| 4. Stance on Abuse Reform? | Abuse Reform was used as a weapon. | There is no sexual abuse crisis. |
| 5. ERLC | Needs a radical 180-degree turn. | It has one more shot. |
| 6. NAMB | Needs accountability and transparency. | We should celebrate our missionary successes. |
| 7. On Appointing Trustees | Convictional, courageous, and clear. | Active SBC member committed to the BFM 2000. |
| 8. View of SBC Institutional Trust? | Trust is low, and transparency needs to be high. | Confident in our system and our leaders. |
| 9. Plan to Address Female SBC Pastors? | Appoint a task force to make recommendations and give guidance to the Credentials Committee. | Let the messengers decide case-by-case every annual meeting; have the Credentials Committee exist thirty days before Annual Meetings. |
| 10. What Does the SBC Need? | Conservative renewal. | Celebrate what makes the SBC great: Great Commission. |
Conclusion
The SBC annual convention is a joyous time of fellowship, but it is also a necessary time of business.51 The health of the SBC depends on informed messengers who know the issues facing our day and understand how our decisions can have ripple effects for years to come. While all this is tremendously serious, there is a beauty in beholding thousands of autonomous churches coming together in cooperation with a common goal and a common conviction. What we need is wisdom, courage, faithfulness, and brotherly love. Both presidential candidates are faithful SBC men, but time will tell where the heart of the SBC turns. May God bless the Southern Baptist Convention.
51. David Schrock, “The Road to Dallas, Part 1: The SBC Annual Meeting as a Mission Trip,” Center for Baptist Leadership, January 30, 2025.
Appendix A: Southern Baptist Convention Statistics, 2011–202552
| Year | Membership | Attendance | Baptisms | Churches | CP Giving (FY) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 15,978,112 | 6,155,116 | 333,341 | 45,764 | $487,884,065 |
| 2012 | 15,872,404 | ≈5.97M | 314,956 | 46,034 | $481,409,006 |
| 2013 | 15,735,640 | 5,834,707 | 310,368 | 46,125 | $482,279,059 |
| 2014 | 15,499,173 | 5,674,469 | 305,301 | 46,499 | $478,700,850 |
| 2015 | 15,294,764 | ≈5.6M | 295,212 | 46,793 | $474,272,984 |
| 2016 | 15,216,978 | ≈5.2M | 280,773 | 47,272 | $475,212,293 |
| 2017 | 15,005,638 | ≈5.3M | 254,122 | 47,544 | $462,662,332 |
| 2018 | 14,813,234 | ≈5.3M | 246,442 | 47,456 | $463,076,368 |
| 2019 | 14,525,579 | 5,250,230 | 235,748 | 47,530 | $462,299,010 |
| 2020 | 14,089,947 | 4,439,797 | 123,160 | 47,592 | $455,553,027 |
| 2021 | 13,680,493 | 3,607,530 | 154,701 | 47,614 | $457,928,996 |
| 2022 | 13,223,122 | 3,804,490 | 180,177 | 47,198 | $457,417,314 |
| 2023 | 12,982,090 | 4,050,668 | 226,919 | 46,906 | $449,039,992 |
| 2024 | 12,722,266 | 4,304,625 | 250,643 | 46,876 | $446,641,957 |
| 2025 | 12,331,954 | 4,460,910 | 263,075 | 46,608 | Not yet published |
