Ala. Pastor Craig Carlisle wins SBC first vice president race in runoff
Southern Baptists elected Alabama Pastor Craig Carlisle as first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention on Wednesday, elevating the current second vice president to one of the denomination's top leadership posts.
Messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting elected Carlisle on a runoff ballot after no candidate secured a majority in the first round of voting.
For the first ballot, Carlisle ran against Paul Purvis, lead pastor at Mission Hill Church of Temple Terrace, Florida, and Larry Helms, pastor of Fort Lawn Baptist Church of Fort Lawn, South Carolina.
Of the 7,378 ballots cast in the first vote, Carlisle received 3,514 votes or 47.63%, which was below the necessary slight majority needed to secure the position. Purvis got 2,026 votes or 27.46%, and Helms got 1,819 votes or 24.65%.
For the second ballot, which came down to either Carlisle or Purvis, there were 5,064 ballots cast. Carlisle received 65.92% of the vote, securing the win, while Purvis received 33.95%, with seven ballots being disallowed.
In April, University of Mobile President Charles W. Smith told The Alabama Baptist that he was going to nominate Carlisle for first vice president, citing “Craig’s character, his proven leadership and his heart for Southern Baptists.”
“It also reflects my deep appreciation for the kind of leader who invests in the next generation — something we see firsthand in our work at the University of Mobile. I believe he is uniquely suited to serve in this role at this time,” Smith said at the time.
“Craig would serve the Southern Baptist Convention well as first vice president because he reflects the very best of who we are as Southern Baptists. He loves Jesus, treasures God’s Word, and spent more than 30 years faithfully pastoring three Southern Baptist churches.”
Carlisle was ordained by the Twelfth Street Baptist Church of Gadsden in 1987 and later served as pastor for the congregation from 2008 to 2017. He was also pastor of Central Park Baptist Church of Decatur from 1991 to 2008 and pastor of Munford Baptist Church from 1987 to 1991.
Carlisle was twice elected president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, serving two one-year terms from 2023 to 2025. He ran unopposed for his second term in 2024.
Last June, Carlisle was elected second vice president of the SBC, receiving 56.46% of the vote and defeating Tommy Mann, pastor of Highland Terrace Baptist Church of Greenville, Texas, who got 30.85% of the vote, and Christopher Rhodes, pastor of Dover Baptist Temple of Dover, Ohio, who got 12.09%.
