Bart Barber is an American Southern Baptist pastor and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

speaker. He is in his second term as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Southern Baptist Convention (2022-2023 and 2023-2024).

Education

Barber earned an undergraduate degree from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

and completed a Master's of Divinity and Ph. D. in Church History from

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and is one of the largest seminaries in the world. It ...

Career

Since 1999, Barber has served as the pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, TX, a Southern Baptist congregation of about 320 people. Barber was the chairman of the 2022 SBC Resolutions Committee and served on the 2021 committee. He was a featured speaker at the SBC Pastors’ Conference in 2017, was elected first vice president of the SBC (2013-2014). At the state level, he served on the

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) is an association of conservative Southern Baptist churches in Texas. It is supportive of the national Southern Baptist Convention. It was formed by churches within the Baptist General Convention of ...

executive board from (2008-2014) and was a trustee for

(2009-2019). He also previously taught as an adjunct professor at Southwestern (2006 through 2009). Barber was instrumental in the crafting of Texas HB 4345 in 2019https://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB4345/2019 that indemnified churches of liability when sharing information about credible sexual abuse accusations.

Southern Baptist Convention presidency

Barber has served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest American

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

denomination for two terms. He was first elected in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

at the 2022 Annual Meeting, and ran for a second consecutive term at the 2023 Annual Meeting in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. During his first term, he was featured in multiple news outlets speaking on behalf of the convention, including a wide-ranging interview with Anderson Cooper on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's news magazine 60 Minutes.

Personal Life

Barber resides in Farmersville, TX with his wife Tracy.

References

American evangelicals Baptist writers Southern Baptist ministers Southern Baptist Convention presidents 21st-century Baptist ministers from the United States {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Bart Year of birth missing (living people) Living people