Johnny M. Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the annual meeting in Indianapolis next month, Florida pastor Ted Traylor announced May 6.

In making his announcement, Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., told The Index, “My deep concern about the future of the Southern Baptist Convention has led me to make known my plans to nominate Johnny Hunt as the our next president. Some of us have been thinking about this for 12 - 15 years.

“I don’t think he (Hunt) has given any thought to this until recently, but the last time I discussed it with him, I saw a flicker in his eyes; and I believe God sparked a flame in his soul for this.”

Traylor listed three reasons that prompted him to announce his intention to nominate the Woodstock pastor: (1) “Hunt has led First Baptist Woodstock to become a great, exemplary Acts 1:8 church in terms of missions giving and missions going.

(2) “He has given evidence of a great interest and concern for the next generation of young pastors and for the millennial generation in general.” Traylor explained, “No one has a better pastoral link to young ministers than Johnny Hunt as evidenced through Woodstock’s Barnabas – Timothy Conferences.

(3) “I believe Southern Baptist are looking for a future that is marked by unity, not division. Johnny Hunt has one fight in him and that is the good fight of faith. He is a leader that can forge a hopeful future that is centered around the gospel and connected to the local church.”

Hunt, a native of North Carolina, has been pastor of the Woodstock church since December of 1986.

During the first year of his pastorate the Cherokee County church baptized 318 people and had 268 additions by statement and letter. During his ministry the church experienced strong growth with the average Sunday School attendance growing from 275 to 5,500.

In the 21 years of Hunt’s pastorate church membership has increased from 1,027 to more than 16,800. Current average church worship attendance is 6,800.

Hunt is a graduate of Gardner-Webb College in Boiling Springs, N.C where he was voted ministerial student of the year in 1979. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest in 1981.

The Chair of Church Growth at the North Carolina seminary was named for Hunt in 1997.

Immanuel Baptist Theological Seminary in Sharpsburg, south of Atlanta, awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree and Covington Theological Seminary in Rossville honored him with a Doctor of Sacred Laws and Letters degree.

While attending Southeastern Seminary Hunt served as pastor of Falls Baptist Church, which led North Carolina in Sunday School growth in 1980. Under his pastorate, Longleaf Baptist Church in Wilmington also led the state convention in baptisms for three consecutive years beginning in 1983.

First Woodstock, under Hunt’s leadership, relocated to an 82-acre site at 777 Neese Road in the fall of 2004. The $54 million sanctuary, which seats 7,500, hosts two morning worship services. Hunt, known for his passion for evangelism and missions, has led the church to give more than $3.5 million out of a budget of $19.5 million to mission’s causes.

According to church giving records on file with the Georgia Baptist Convention, 2007 Cooperative Program receipts totaled $393,798, or 2.2 percent, of undesignated receipts of $18,951,579.

Since 1987 the congregation has sent out more than 135 missionaries and started more than 78 churches.

Under Hunt’s leadership the church has developed numerous ministries like the City of Refuge. That ministry provides an environment that enables hurting pastors and their families to find hope and healing.

Hunt is married to the former Janet Allen of Wilmington, N.C. The couple has two daughters, Deanne Hunt Carswell and Hollie Hunt Hixson. They also have three granddaughters: Hope Savannah Hixon, Addie Lee Hixon, and Katie Hunter Carswell; and one grandson, Carson John Carswell.

Hunt’s nomination follows that of fellow Georgia Baptist Frank Cox, pastor of North Metro First Baptist Church of Lawrenceville, whose candidacy was announced on February 7. William L. “Bill” Wagner, a former Southern Baptist missionary and seminary professor and current president of Olivet University International in San Francisco will also be nominated.

Former Georgia Baptist and Christian Index editor Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky., withdrew his nomination earlier this year following surgery for non-cancerous polyps in his colon.