Majority of Churches Planted by SBC in 2018 Pastored by Non-White Leaders

In 2018, the Southern Baptist Convention helped place non-white leaders in a majority of its planted pulpits, showing a commitment to racial diversity despite its history of racism. 

“By God’s grace, He is moving in His church, and He is showing us that…to be a reflection of His glory, we need to reflect the diversity of our communities, but we also need to proclaim the diversity of the coming Kingdom, and that is what gives glory to Jesus,” SBC President J.D. Greear said at the 2019 Black Church Leadership and Family Conference in North Carolina, as reported by the Christian Post.

At the conference, Greear, who also pastors The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area, shared that more than 60 percent of all SBC churches planted last year were with black leaders.

“I want you to hear from me, who has the privilege of serving in this capacity as president, I want you to hear, ‘Thank you,’ and I want you to know that your sacrifices and your prayers and your faith, have not been in vain, that God is using them,” Greear continued to share to the largely black audience at the event, as reported by the Baptist Press. “And with our humility, and with our continued posture of repentance, we believe that even greater days are ahead, because God doesn’t move in His church unless He intends to impact the world in the future.”

The conference, which…