NEW ORLEANS — The Southern Baptist Convention voted Tuesday to elect its first black president in one of its biggest steps yet to reconcile the 167-year-old denomination’s troubled racial past and appeal to a more diverse group of Christians.
The Rev. Fred Luter Jr. was unopposed in being elected by thousands of enthusiastic delegates Tuesday at the annual meeting of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination in his hometown of New Orleans.
The Rev. David Crosby of First Baptist New Orleans nominated Mr. Luter, calling him a “fire-breathing, miracle-working pastor” who “would likely be a candidate for sainthood if he were Catholic.”
Mr. Crosby recalled how Mr. Luter built the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church from a tiny congregation to a megachurch of nearly 8,000 before the buildings were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005....
