I would love to vote for Josh Powell for SBC president one day. And that is exactly why I’m voting for Willy Rice next week in Orlando.

Josh pastors a church twenty minutes from mine. We are in the same local association. I’ve known him for six years, and he’s never been anything but kind to me and helpful to my church. I won’t say anything bad about Josh personally because I don’t have anything bad to say. He’s a good man.

But voting for SBC president shouldn’t be about who you like or who your friends are. 

It should be about what’s best for our convention of churches and our shared mission together under current conditions.

I told Josh over coffee several months ago that if it were 2006, then his vision for the SBC presidency would make more sense to me. But it’s 2026, and a lot has transpired in the twenty years since messengers last elected a pastor of Taylors First Baptist as SBC president.

In the last twenty years, the SBC has declined by almost every available metric. Combine that decline with a myriad of theological and institutional compromises and crises, and this is much is apparent for those with eyes to see: 

We are not a healthy Convention right now.

Trust is low, controversy is high. Cooperative Program giving is plummeting. Entities are maneuvering to secure funding from outside the SBC, a move that has historically eroded institutional accountability to the convention. The Executive Committee re-wrote one of our governing documents to make such new funding expeditions possible.

Meanwhile, we’ve had a four-year debate over the simple question, “What is a pastor?” and we still have no resolution.

Further, we are in a time of upheaval and leadership changes at our entities, as several presidents have recently resigned or retired, or are expected to do so soon.

In other words, the ship is not steady, the sailing is not smooth, and the horizon is not clear. 

Which means that now is the time for frank, convictional, and courageous leadership.

It is not the time to pretend that none of the above is true, or to wish it weren’t. Ignoring problems never makes them go away. When the Check Engine light comes on, you take your truck to a mechanic to diagnose the problem and make the repair. Transmissions don’t need a pep talk. Neither do Southern Baptists.

I appreciate Pastor Josh’s love for Southern Baptists, the Great Commission, and our cooperation together for the sake of the Gospel among all peoples. But I believe his approach to the real problems in the convention mentioned above does not best serve the SBC.

In his interview with Baptist Press, Powell said this:

“[But] there are two options we can take. There are those in the convention [who] want to focus on our problems … to talk about them all the time. I would rather focus on the priorities, because I believe that … you cannot focus on the priorities and the problems at the same time.”

“Southern Baptists are at their best when they’re laser-focused on the priority of the Great Commission that we do together. One of my hopes is that out of a difficult past six or seven years … we can start focusing on the priorities gain … start pressing hard on the gas of the Great Commission.”

But keeping your foot on the gas while the Check Engine light flashes is a good way to ruin the motor. I believe this approach may only lead to further division, a diminished Cooperative Program, and, ultimately, a weakened witness by simmering our problems rather than solving them.

Pastor Willy Rice has demonstrated an aptitude for leading our convention and keeping our Great Commission engine running. 

He’s done this in at least five ways.

First, Willy Rice has been willing to diagnose our problems honestly

Pastor Willy has not shied away from naming our challenges, but has spoken plainly about them.  He acknowledges that we’ve been at an impasse on the issue of women pastors for the last several years. He identified “sloppy ecclesiology” as one of the culprits. 

He has spoken about the need for denominational accountability. He acknowledges that declining transparency and trust are real issues for everyday pastors and laypeople. He’s published the hard numbers on the massive drop-off in CP giving over the last twenty years. 

He’s named Critical Race Theory as a worldly methodology. 

When frustrations with the ERLC’s increasingly liberal political advocacy threatened to divide our churches, Pastor Willy moved to abolish the entity last year.

In a day when so many leaders are afraid of acknowledging problems publicly, Pastor Willy has demonstrated a remarkable ability to diagnose what ails us.

Second, Willy Rice has offered real solutions to our problems

Being willing to name the problems plaguing the SBC is a necessary but insufficient component of leadership. It’s not particularly hard to point out problems. Any critic can do that. 

But it takes a real leader to bring solutions to the table and implement them.

On his website, Rice outlines seven pillars for Baptist renewal. Each pillar offers solutions that will lead our convention to greater health and fruitfulness in the Great Commission. For example, he has proposed a task force to study the issue of women pastors and prepare a report for the convention, and he outlines his reasons for doing so. He has proposed an additional article to the BFM 2000 on gender and sexuality. Elsewhere, he has publicly supported Dr. Al Mohler’s Truth and Unity Amendment to the Constitution.

On the issue of denominational accountability, one solution I have advocated for over the last three years is 990-level transparency and disclosure. I have spoken to both candidates about this issue. Powell indicated to me that he believes our current trustee system and transparency standards are sufficient, and no further solution is needed. 

Rice recognizes that we need to do something. While he has not adopted or advocated for my particular 990-level solution, he has not ruled it out either. Rather, he has proposed a task force to study the issue and find a way to give messengers the level of transparency that can rebuild trust.

Given all the challenges Southern Baptists face, our great need right now is not a caretaker but a problem solver. Rice has demonstrated a willingness to tackle our toughest problems.  

Third, Willy Rice has remained cheerful

Yes, we have problems. Yes, we need solutions. But Southern Baptists are not a dour people. We are not an angry bunch.

Neither is Willy Rice.

He’s managed to talk about the real problems and possible solutions without devolving into a Negative Nancy or casting aspersions on fellow Southern Baptists. He’s tackled some of our most lightning-rod issues, and I haven’t heard him speak negatively of anyone yet.

He really does love Southern Baptists, and I believe his cheerful conviction could set the tone for solving our problems while not destroying our brotherhood.

Fourth, Willy Rice has shown the ability to admit he was wrong

Several years ago, Willy Rice was an insider of the SBC machine. He’s served as the state convention president in Florida, on the SBC Nominating Committee, on the Committee on Committees, as chairman of the NAMB trustee board, and as president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference.

He was the odds-on favorite to win the SBC presidency in 2022 before the denominational machine turned on him and cast him out, a story he recounted on the CBL podcast in 2024.

Going through that trial helped him see more clearly, though. On the other side of it, he admitted several things where he had been wrong.

For example, he admits that he initially did not believe there was a leftward drift in the SBC. But later he admitted that, “Upon further reflection, I now realize that some of those statements that I dismissed as ‘uncharitable’ were true, even if I didn’t have the ears to hear them quite yet.” 

He specifically mentioned the sex abuse reform movement and the controversy surrounding CRT as issues he got wrong.

Now, many prominent SBC figures danced the Wokey Pokey back in the early 2020s, but precious few have had the courage to publicly turn themselves around. They may have scrubbed their social media feeds and deleted old sermons. They may have even adopted “based” talking points in private.

But precious few have had the courage to say what Willy Rice has said so clearly:

“It turns out that I was the one who got it wrong.”

“Repentance is a core tenet of our faith, and it is time for some of us to embrace it.”

One of the surest signs that a man is truly Gospel-driven is his ability to admit specific faults and own his mistakes publicly. Willy Rice has proven himself a Gospel-driven man.

Fifth, Willy Rice is focused on the Great Commission

Last week, Pastor Willy posted a video calling Southern Baptists to a Great Commission 2000 vision, challenging Southern Baptists to share the Gospel with every living person in the United States and to engage every unengaged people group on the face of the earth.

This vision strikes a deep chord within me as a former IMB missionary who worked with one unreached people group and three unreached, unengaged people groups during my time on the field.

Pastor Willy’s focus on the Great Commission proves that it is possible to focus on both our problems and our priorities. We can do both. In fact, if we are truly going to give everything we’ve got to our Great Commission priorities, I believe we must solve our problems. But we can’t do that if we choose not to even try.

Conclusion: Decline is a Choice. So is Renewal. So Let’s Choose Wisely and Choose Willy

Anyone in the SBC can talk about what our Convention could or should be, what it takes to “stay on mission together,” and how to continue reaching the nations in the 21st Century. But given the very real issues facing us as a Convention, it will take a joyful problem-solver to lead us to live up to our aspirations.

In another recent video, Pastor Willy reflected on what the SBC means to him and why he has stepped into the arena by allowing himself to be nominated as our next president. His words are honest, sobering, yet hopeful.

“I have lived as a grateful, joyful son of Southern Baptists. Perhaps that’s why the tension and drift of the last few years has burdened my heart. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life part of a declining movement with diminishing impact…Our work is too great, and our cause is too monumental, for us to settle for a slow fade of decline and drift. I am praying for a Baptist renewal in our time.”

Amen. Let’s pursue that Baptist renewal in our time. Willy Rice has demonstrated that he is ready, willing, and capable of leading us in living up to our Great Commission aspirations, for the glory of King Jesus.

I hope to vote for Josh Powell as SBC president one day. 

But to make that day possible, I’m casting my vote for Willy Rice next Tuesday. And I’d encourage every Southern Baptist coming to Orlando to do the same.