BY DAVID INGRAM / Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM — The Southern Baptist Convention ended its annual meeting Wednesday in Indianapolis with new beginnings.

The convention, which is the controlling body of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, made steps in hopes of rectifying recent membership drops, by electing a new president who promised to make “bringing people back to the faith,” his top priority.

Rev. Johnny Hunt, a Native American and pastor of a Cherokee County megachurch in Woodstock, Ga., was elected president of the SBC on the first ballot. He was one of six contenders vying for the one-year, unpaid position that will transform him into the public face of the denomination.

The convention could not quickly confirm whether Hunt is the first Native American to serve as president.

Hunt, 55, quickly called for unity.

“Together, we will build a heart for the next generation,” Hunt said to convention delegates.

Hunt received nearly 53 percent of the vote, surprising many convention delegates who predicted a runoff in the unusually large field of contenders. He succeeds Rev. Frank Page of Taylors, S.C., who Southern Baptists saw as the “calm during the storms,” for focusing the church on internal matters of growth and missions, rather than culture wars. Page could not run again because of term limits.

The new president will hardly have time for any post-election celebrations. The denomination has seen recent membership drops from the 2003 high of more than 19.4 million to the present 16.3 million active members.

Baptists constitute half of the more than 63 percent of Alabamians that classify themselves as Protestant; however, that number is also on the decline according to the SBC.

Hunt’s election is seen as a major victory for the more fundamentalist wing of the denomination, which takes a hard line on the inerrancy of Scripture. It is seen as a public rejection and denouncement of young reformers, who as of late, have taken a more vocal stance on the SBC’s leadership reluctance to consider a wider range of issues, such as the ban on alcohol consumption and female pastors.

A growing, but not yet fatal, rift between the two factions is becoming a dominant issue in causing falls in membership within the Baptist church.

Hunt is pledging to bridge the growing gap, but many feel he needs to get to work quickly.

“The church, I feel, needs to catch up with the times and with society,” said Laura Manning, a business junior and former Baptist. “This isn’t 1900 anymore. Society is progressing, and the church’s doctrine and ways of practicing are staying the same.”

Manning, 21, left the church in October saying she didn’t need church to have a religion.

The SBC is also acutely aware they are not the only ones electing a president; the country is also doing so, and soon.

Four years ago, many Republican insiders, including “the architect” of of President Bush’s 2004 campaign, Karl Rove, publicly credited heavy turnout from Southern Baptists to the successful re-election of the president.

In 2004, the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign hosted a reception for Southern Baptist pastors and convention delegates at a hotel across the street from their annual meeting. This year, neither presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, nor his campaign was anywhere to be seen.

The absence has some Southern Baptists wondering whether the Arizona senator wants or needs their votes come November.

“(McCain) definitely needs the votes of Evangelicals,” said Steven Brown, associate professor of political science. “I think a lot of people think all Evangelicals are a reliable vote for Republicans or that they’re all Conservative, and this is not always the case.”

McCain’s chief rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, is poised to take some of the Evangelical vote from McCain.

“Because Obama seems so comfortable talking about religion, his voice and his rhetoric and his words will attract some people,” Brown said. “They will listen to what he is saying and seeing if he can talk the talk.”

Other convention members are more sympathetic to McCain. They are waiting for his campaign to swing into general election mode, especially now after Obama has all but secured the Democratic nomination.

Although McCain has yet to reach out to Southern Baptists the way Bush did and continues to do, many inside the convention acknowledge their support and intent to cast a McCain vote, citing Obama’s record as far too liberal for most Southern Baptists.

While the SBC does not publicly endorse a candidate, many can make an educated assumption as to which way the convention is leaning.

“Well, look, Southern Baptists are going to vote in November,” said Rev. Bobby Wentz of Great Springs First Baptist Church outside Tupelo, Miss., and SBC delegate. “We’re going to vote for someone, and we’re going to be united in that vote.”

Evangelicals will no doubt be a bloc both candidates are going to court before November.

The SBC also passed a resolution as direct response to the recent ruling in California by the state Supreme Court allowing for gay marriage under California’s Constitution. Messengers to the convention came to support a state initiative to “repudiate same-sex marriage.”

There will be an initiative on California’s ballot in November to ban gay marriage via the state Constitution; approval by voters would override the May 15 state Supreme Court ruling. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., says he will not support such a referendum, saying he will honor the court’s decision.

Six other resolutions were adopted, including a call for Congress to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, for Southern Baptists to participate in the political and public policy process and a celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary.