Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the six men who has agreed to run for a two-year term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). He says his priority is fostering a theologically pure and missions-minded Church.
"I'd like to have us unified around the truth and that truth driving what our mission is – our six seminaries we have that are doctrinally conservative – and then reaching the nations with the gospel," he tells AFN.
He favors the so-called Law Amendment, which clarifies Scripture's instruction that only men can be ordained to serve as pastors, and he is committed to supporting the work of the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force and making the SBC safe and accountable.
"We need to clean house … and I think we'll get to that," the pastor says. "We do need to deal with a couple of issues and get that squared away."
Calling the SBC "a really good house," he says the fundamentals of the denomination are solid.
"The Southern Baptist Convention as a whole and all of its churches are very clearly tied to the Bible and a right reading of what the Bible says," Pressley asserts. "Beyond that, out of that foundation comes a real zeal for missions and evangelism."
Pressley has a degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has been active in state and national leadership for years.
