The Rev. Fred Luter Jr.: New face of the Southern Baptist Convention

New Orleans pastor Fred Luter Jr. became the first African American president of the 167-year-old Southern Baptist Convention, whose members are meeting this week in Luter’s home town.

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June 19, 2012

Rev. Fred Luter Jr. wipes away tears as he is elected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the denomination's annual meeting, held this year in Luther’s home town of New Orleans. Luter is the first African American to be elected president of the nation's largest Protestant denomination. Current president Bryant Wright, right, told those gathered for the convention that they were “privileged to be here for this historic occasion.”

Gerald Herbert / AP

June 19, 2012

Luter, senior pastor of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, points skyward as he is elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention. He ran unopposed.

Gerald Herbert / AP

June 19, 2012

Luter, left, reacts to the audience as he is elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Luter's election comes at a time when the denomination aims for greater participation among non-white members.

Gerald Herbert / AP

June 19, 2012

Elizabeth Luter, wife of Rev. Fred Luter Jr., keeps her handkerchief ready at the Southern Baptist Convention.

Gerald Herbert / AP

June 19, 2012

Luter delivers the final message of the two-day Pastors' Conference at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting. The largest U.S. Protestant denomination, which has 16 million members, chose Luter to be its first black president, a historic election for the predominately white religious group.

Bill Bangham / Reuters/Southern Baptist Convention

June 14, 2011

Luter acknowledges the crowd at last year's meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, prior to being elected in 2011 as the convention's first African American vice president.

Ross D. Franklin / AP

June 14, 2011

Luter, left, receives a handshake from James Bullock at the 2011 Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix. Delegates at the this year’s SBC meeting in Luter's home town of New Orleans elected him their president, making him the denomination's first African American leader in its 167-year history.

Ross D. Franklin / AP

June 3, 2012

Luter, pastor of New Orleans's Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, greets congregation members during Sunday services in his home town. Luter is the new face of the Protestant denomination, which split with its northern counterpart over the issue of slavery before the Civil War. His election marks one of the denomination’s biggest steps yet to reconcile its troubled racial past and appeal to a more diverse group of believers.

Gerald Herbert / AP

June 3, 2012

A congregation member prays as the Rev. Fred Luter Jr., senior pastor of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, delivers a sermon during Sunday services. Seventeen years ago, Luter was one of the authors of a Southern Baptist Convention resolution that apologized to African Americans for the racism of its past and resolved to strive for racial reconciliation.

Gerald Herbert / AP

June 3, 2012

Rev. Fred Luter Jr. delivers a sermon during Sunday services in Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, in New Orleans. Since the Southern Baptist Convention issued its apology to African Americans 17 years ago, the denomination has grown its non-white congregations from only 5 percent in 1990 to 20 percent in 2010. But its leadership has not diversified as rapidly.

Gerald Herbert / AP

June 3, 2012

The Rev. Fred Luter Jr., senior pastor of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, delivers a sermon during Sunday services in New Orleans. Luter was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday, during a period in which SBC membership and baptisms are on the decline.

Gerald Herbert / AP

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