October 2, 2026
ORLANDO, Fla. — Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley and the two announced candidates seeking to succeed him urged pastors this week to pursue doctrinal clarity, rebuild trust, and keep the Great Commission at the center as messengers prepare to gather in Orlando for the SBC Annual Meeting.
Pressley, senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., joined Florida pastor Willy Rice and South Carolina pastor Josh Powell on the Duck and Goose Pastors Call, a pre-SBC online gathering hosted by Jason Dees, senior pastor of Christ Covenant in Atlanta.
Duck and Goose is an informal network of pastors and church leaders that grew out of friendships among Southern Seminary students and ministry peers. The group hosts periodic calls to encourage pastors, foster friendship, and provide space for practical conversations about ministry and Southern Baptist life.
The pre-SBC call has become an annual gathering designed to help pastors think through key issues ahead of the Convention’s annual meeting. This year’s conversation was moderated in part by Matt Alexander, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Gadsden, Ala., and included discussion of the health of the Convention, the influence of social media, Cooperative Program giving, church decline, preaching, and a proposed constitutional amendment on the office and function of pastor, elder, and overseer.
Pressley said one of the most encouraging parts of serving as SBC president has been seeing the character and conviction of leaders serving Southern Baptist entities.
“The closer you get to those guys, the more you appreciate who they are, the love they have for the gospel, for the mission,” Pressley said. “They actually do love what they’re doing and love what and who we are as Southern Baptists.”
Asked whether he sees liberal drift in the Convention, Pressley said he is not willing to say there is “some sort of deliberate liberal drift,” though he acknowledged that the SBC has had to navigate difficult years involving debates over race, sexual abuse, COVID-19, and other issues.
“I think that overall, when you think about the Southern Baptist Convention, the overwhelming majority, the 80% of who we are, are rock solid on biblical orthodoxy,” he said.
A significant portion of the conversation focused on Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler’s expected constitutional amendment dealing with the office of pastor, elder, and overseer. Mohler has announced plans to bring an amendment to Article III of the SBC Constitution that would affirm that the office and function of pastor, elder, and overseer are limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
Pressley said he supported the earlier Law Amendment and also supports Mohler’s proposal, which has been revised since its initial announcement. “I think that kind of says where we are. And really is, I think, a good picture of where the overwhelming majority of Southern Baptists are.”
Though Rice and Powell did not address Mohler’s amendment during the call, both announced candidates have previously voiced support for the proposal.
At the same time, Pressley said Southern Baptists should not set doctrinal clarity against concerns such as church decline, pastor shortages, and revitalization.
“You can do both,” he said. “You can say, ‘Doctrinally, this is where we are,’ and also we need to be addressing some of the issues we have with church decline, with the lack of pastors.”
Pressley said there may be ways for the North American Mission Board, state conventions, associations, and healthy churches to cooperate more intentionally to help struggling congregations. Church revitalization, he said, is difficult and long-term work.
“It can eat pastors up,” he said.
Rice, who has served as senior pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Fla., for 21 years, said he is praying for what he described as “Baptist renewal.”
“I don’t think we’re a dying movement,” Rice said. “But I do think in the last decade, I have felt the seams of our fellowship stretched and torn in ways I hadn’t felt in my ministry.”
Rice said he believes Southern Baptists have become “distracted” and “divided,” pulled down side streets instead of focusing on the core mission that brought them together.
“We love Jesus, we love His Word, and we want to be part of a gospel movement,” Rice said. “My dream would be, my prayer would be, I want to see us healthy. I want to see us focused on the Great Commission.”
Rice said Southern Baptists should address governing documents when needed, but he warned against allowing constitutional debates to define the movement’s identity.
“We need a good constitution,” he said. “And if you’re going to write an amendment, it ought to be a good one. But I don’t think any of us at 15 years of age walked down an aisle and said, ‘You know, I feel like the Lord is leading me to work on the SBC Constitution.’”
Powell, lead pastor of Taylors First Baptist Church in South Carolina, said he never expected to be considered for SBC president, but agreed to allow his nomination because he wants to help steward the mission Southern Baptists share.
“We come together to send missionaries, plant churches, and train pastors,” Powell said. “That’s why we joined together.”
Powell said the Convention has faced difficult seasons before, but he believes Southern Baptists should not become stuck focusing only on problems.
“I think now is the time that we press the gas moving forward for the Great Commission,” he said.
Powell said Southern Baptist institutions are healthy and doing what they were created to do, even if that story is not always being told well.
“We’re doing what we said we would,” Powell said. “We’re doing it well. Let’s focus on our priorities of reaching the nations with the gospel.”
The three leaders also discussed Cooperative Program giving and the need to rebuild trust and better communicate the work Southern Baptists are doing together.
Pressley said Southern Baptists can do a better job of showcasing why churches cooperate through the SBC and the Cooperative Program.
“We’ve not done a good job championing the IMB, championing what we do as Southern Baptists and keeping that in front of our people,” Pressley said.
Rice said pastors and church members need honesty from leaders about mistakes, humility about lessons learned, and renewed confidence that concerns are being heard.
“There’s been a loss of trust,” Rice said. “There’s been some wounds. And they don’t hear enough from SBC leaders, ‘We got that one wrong. We’re sorry. We made some mistakes.’”
Powell said Southern Baptists should acknowledge problems but not allow them to eclipse the mission.
“Nobody wants to jump on a wagon that is talking about their problems every day,” Powell said. “They want to jump on a wagon that is proclaiming the Great Commission moving forward for the glory of Christ.”
The conversation also touched on social media and its influence in SBC life.
Pressley said social media has given a voice to some who might not otherwise have one, which can be helpful, but it also allows people who may not be acting in good faith to shape conversations. He said pastors and leaders should listen without being controlled by social media.
“There is something substantial about a guy that’s been in the field, that’s been serving the church, that knows the ins and outs, that’s taken the shots, that’s provided real leadership,” Pressley said. “To have him speak into something is different than having someone who has created a platform out of what they say on social media.”
Rice said social media has clearly increased division and tension, but leaders should not dismiss concerns simply because they arise online.
“We need to make sure we don’t overreact and say we’re not going to listen to the concerns that people have,” Rice said.
Powell said Southern Baptists need discernment to know what is true, what is helpful, and what deserves a response.
As the call closed, Dees asked Pressley, Rice, and Powell to summarize their hopes for next week’s annual meeting in one sentence.
Pressley said he hopes Southern Baptists leave Orlando “rejoicing in the gospel call we have,” having experienced a peaceful meeting and gladness in being Southern Baptist.
Rice said he hopes messengers find clarity on the issue of women serving in the office or function of pastor, elder, and overseer, so it does not remain a fight for the foreseeable future.
Powell said Southern Baptists are at their best when they gather, speak clearly to the issues before them, and return to their shared mission.
“I hope and pray that as we come, we’re able to do that, speak to the issues and get back to the principles and priorities that we have together,” Powell said.
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