Asked where he stood in his convictions regarding Calvinism: “I really don’t believe that human beings are ever going to completely reconcile the sovereignty of God and the free will of man.

Newly elected Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright wants to see Southern Baptists return to their first love, radically reprioritize their lives, funding and ministries to fulfill the Great Commission and directly participate in overseas mission work.

Speaking to reporters June 15 less than an hour after the announcement of his second ballot victory, Wright shared his dream of seeing every Southern Baptist pastor and church take at least one mission trip. “The pastor needs to experience what it’s like to be out there in another culture sharing the good news of Jesus Christ,” he said.

Wright commended the Georgia congregation he pastors, Johnson Ferry Baptist in Marietta, for having sent over 1,500 people on 70 mission trips to 27 nations last year. “What that does in the life of a church is incredible,” he said.

In the midst of developing partnerships with Southern Baptist missionaries and other Kingdom-focused work, Bryant said church leaders began to question why so much of their Cooperative Program contributions remained in the United States. That led to a decision to reduce CP giving in order to designate more to the International Mission Board.
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Asked about a column he wrote urging state conventions to retain only 25 to 30 percent of undesignated CP gifts from churches, Wright said, “I’d love to see states move in that direction, knowing it will be a long, long process.”