Pastor Willy Rice of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida, has declared that he will allow his name to be placed in nomination for Southern Baptist Convention president at next year’s annual meeting.
In a Friday YouTube video, the 62-year-old framed his announcement around Reformation Day, recalling how on Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses in Wittenberg, Germany.
“The Church is always reforming,” Rice said. “We receive correction, adjust course, and embrace renewal. And it is to that end today that I want to share with my Southern Baptist family my desire for renewal in our time.”
A pastor for more than four decades, Rice said the SBC faces “real concerns” that “call for serious reflection, humble correction and a new day of renewal.”
Current SBC President Clint Pressley, who nominated Rice in March 2022, previously said he believed “Rice represents who Southern Baptists are at their best.”
“He loves Southern Baptists, believes in Southern Baptists, and has demonstrated at every level of our convention his ability to lead Southern Baptists,” Pressley told Baptist Press at the time.
Controversy followed the 2022 nomination when it emerged that Rice’s church had ordained a deacon who, prior to conversion, had engaged in sexually abusive behavior.
At this year’s SBC Annual Meeting, Rice introduced a motion to dissolve the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, saying he “defended the ERLC for years, but I can't do that anymore.”
“Many have been stunned to learn that outside progressive advocacy groups have financially supported our ERLC, and there's been no public repentance, no rejection of those alliances,” said Rice.
Urging messengers “to abolish the ERLC,” Rice said his goal was “not to erase it, but to restore it” and “reforge it into a voice unincumbered by outside interests.”
The ERLC and its allies have rejected the allegations of secular progressive influence and funding.
Rice’s motion was defeated, with 56.89% of messengers voting no and 42.84% in favor; 18 ballots were disallowed.
The 2026 SBC Annual Meeting is slated for next June at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center.
