Southern Baptists reject push from right and elect Ed Litton as president

Alabama pastor who worked to bridge racial divides won 52% of the vote in runoff against Mike Stone

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) tamped down a push from the right at its largest meeting in decades on Tuesday, electing a new president who has worked to bridge racial divides in the church and defeating an effort to make an issue of critical race theory.

Ed Litton, a pastor from Alabama, won 52% of the vote in a runoff against Mike Stone, a Georgia pastor backed by a new group called the Conservative Baptist Network that has sought to move the already-conservative denomination further right.