Louisiana pastor Fred Luter has told his congregation that he’s willing to have his name placed in nomination for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a step that could lead to a historic election.

Luter, currently the first vice president of the SBC, made the announcement Sunday, as first reported by the SBC Today website. Baptist Press confirmed that Luter is willing to be nominated in a Thursday (Feb. 2) call to the church he leads, Franklin Avenue Baptist in New Orleans.

“He and his wife [Elizabeth] have been praying for months,” Johnell Thomas, pastor of membership at Franklin Avenue, told BP. Thomas said Luter “did announce that he would allow his name” to be placed in nomination in addressing the congregation.

Luter, senior pastor of Franklin Avenue, is the only announced candidate so far. If elected, he would become the convention’s first African American president — and it would happen as the U.S. commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. He already is the SBC’s first African American first vice president.

Voting will take place at the SBC annual meeting in New Orleans in June. A nominator has not been announced.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The source for this document was originally published on bpnews.net—however, the original URL is no longer available.]