NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Bobby Welch was re-elected to a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention without opposition June 21.
Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., has endeared himself to Southern Baptists with his humor and emphasis on grass-roots evangelism. His election to another one-year term as president of the largest non-Catholic denomination in the United States follows a longtime pattern of granting presidents a second term.
Welch has made a revitalization of SBC evangelism the hallmark of his first term, challenging Southern Baptists to convert and baptize 1 million new Christians in the next year — a program called “Everyone Can.” During the weekend prior to the SBC meeting in Nashville, Tenn., Southern Baptists held the largest door-to-door witnessing effort ever, according to convention leaders.