Baptist First

Southern Baptists may elect its first African-American to the second highest position in the denomination, vice president. Fred Luter pastors the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. Luter was the first African-American elected to the executive board of the Louisiana Baptist Convention in 1992 and he was the first African-American to preach the convention sermon at the Southern Baptist annual gathering in 2001. Delegates are meeting in Phoenix to elect new leaders.