president of the Southern Baptist Convention, defeating California
pastor Wiley Drake by a vote of 2,274-102 June 14 at the SBC annual
meeting in Phoenix.
Wright, pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist
Church in Marietta, was nominated to a second term by David Platt,
senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala. Drake,
pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., nominated
himself.
Of the 2,384 votes cast, Wright received 95.39 percent; Drake received 4.26 percent.
In
nominating the SBC president for a second term, Platt said Wright
“possesses a deep passion for Christ and a deep love for the local
church and a deep respect for this convention of churches that he’s a
part of.”
During the past year as SBC president, Platt said
Wright “has graciously and faithfully served Southern Baptist churches,
encouraging us to work alongside one another in the advancement of [the] kingdom of Christ and the accomplishment of the Great Commission.”
Platt
recounted when he had traveled with Wright to the Middle East two weeks
earlier and saw him “come beside pastors and IMB missionaries, caring
for them, praying for them, weeping with them, standing beside them.”
“Amidst
all of our talk about the Great Commission, this is a brother who is
doing it. He pastors a church full of people who are passionate about
spreading the gospel both locally and globally. This is not an ‘either
or’ for them. This is a ‘both and.’
“The people of Johnson Ferry are
active in sharing Christ all across Atlanta, baptizing hundreds of new
believers this last year, ministering to urgent spiritual and physical
need all across their community. And then they are directly involved in
ministries to more than 30 different countries around the world.”
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