I had posted a short clip from this interview a couple of days ago. Willy Rice is pastor of a large Southern Baptist Church in Florida with multiple campuses. The interview covers the important topics to be discussed at the annual convention in a couple of weeks including financial transparency, female pastors and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Other topics are discussed also– including but not limited to the handling of sex abuse claims:
"An earthquake is coming in the SBC” Willy Rice on the ERLC, Transparency, and the Law Amendment https://t.co/YO0PGzO4vv
— Center for Baptist Leadership (@BaptistLeaders) May 20, 2025
Willy Rice, pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Fla., had been the leading candidate for the SBC presidency — to be elected at a SBC annual meeting with backing from the centrist and institutional leaders of the convention. His track record as a pastor and in denominational service checks all the boxes normally expected of the top elected spot in the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination.
However, Rice’s candidacy hit an unexpected rough spot when he apparently was pressured by persons outside the church to explain why the church had ordained as a deacon a man who was known to the congregation to have had a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old girl when he was a teacher and coach at a nearby high school.
Rice explained to his congregation the young man later experienced “a genuine conversion to Christ” ,that was followed by baptism as a “true follower of Jesus.” The pastor said Ford had turned his life around and had no further problems, coming to be known in the congregation as an exemplary leader. He said this in defense of the sinner: “If the blood of Jesus Christ is not enough to save him, then it’s not enough to save me.”
Rice is passionate about renewing Baptism’s traditions and rejects a pandemic denomination.
Great comments, Fred. He seems authentic. But I don’t know to what extent good outcomes can arise from the convention in a couple of weeks.