‘Identity crisis’: will the US’s largest evangelical denomination move even further right?

Thousands of Southern Baptists are gathering to elect their next president amid deep divides over addressing systemic racism and sexual misconduct

Thousands of Southern Baptists from across the US are heading to Tennessee this week to vote for their next president, a choice laced with tension that could push America's largest evangelical Christian denomination even further to the right and potentially spark an exodus of Black pastors and congregations.

Each of the three leading candidates for president presents a unique vision for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and will help guide the Protestant denomination through the thorny issues it currently faces - declining membership, deep divisions over acknowledging the existence of systemic racism and fresh accusations of mishandling sexual abuse allegations.