The Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Annual Meeting took place June 19-20 in New Orleans, LA.

On the first day of their meeting, Fred Luter was elected as SBC President. He serves as the senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, LA. What made this historic is that Fred is the first African American to be elected to this position. This is great news. In fact, it is even better than that, it is good news, as it is reflective of the outworking of the good news of the gospel (cf. Eph. 2:11-22). As Luter noted, “this will say a lot to the kingdom of heaven that here’s a convention that was started as a result of slavery and the past that we have, now an African American pastor is leading them.”This is a brief story about Luter’s actual election:

Karen L. Willoughby, “Historic: Fred Luter elected SBC president,” Baptist Press (June 19, 2012)

Here is a wonderful story of Fred’s life and ministry:

Diana Chandler, “Fred Luter's trailblazing life rich with trials, blessings,” Baptist Press (June 19, 2012)

This story has also been picked up by a couple of major secular newspapers:

Cathy Lynn Grossman, “Fred Luter elected Southern Baptists' first black president,” USA Today (June 19, 2012)

Travis Loller, “Southern Baptists make history, elect first black leader,” The Washington Times (June 19, 2012)