October 6, 2026
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice is calling on pastors to engage in the political process when public policy questions intersect with biblical and moral convictions.
Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, was elected SBC president in June. In a weekend interview with Fox News, he said pastors should not shy away from issues that touch directly on Christian beliefs.
“Should pastors engage in the political process? They absolutely should. Because there are many political issues that are, at their heart, theological issues and moral issues that strike at the very center of what we believe to be true and what we believe people need to know in order to flourish personally and as a culture,” Rice said.
“I think the pastors need to step up. I think throughout American history, pastors have had a strong voice at key moments in American political history,” he added.
Rice said Christians have at times been encouraged, both from within and outside the church, to withdraw from political involvement.
“Now, the interesting thing is that those on the theological and political left did not [withdraw], and they had no intention of doing so. And in fact, statistics show that people on the political and theological left are actually more politically engaged than those on the right,” Rice said. “So what you had was, for a period of time, I felt like you had almost a vacuum that kind of developed, a silence that was there with a lack of Christian leaders leaning in.”
Rice pointed to abortion, marriage, gender identity, and immigration as issues that he believes require Christians to think from a biblical framework.
“These issues are deeply, profoundly theological issues,” Rice said. “They go back to the creation; they go back to Genesis 1 and 2. They go back to our understanding of what it means to be a human being, and our understanding of what God's creative purpose is for us as human beings.”
On immigration, Rice said Christians should not see compassion and the rule of law as mutually exclusive.
“There is a value of compassion, a value of wanting to care for the least of these people who are poor and oppressed and wanting to help,” Rice said.
“But there is also the importance of the rule of law,” he continued. “The protection of people who are in this country. And what you've had is sometimes a very cynical use by some people in power of trying to manipulate Christians by saying, since you must demonstrate compassion, therefore you must embrace open immigration, or you must not insist on the enforcement of the immigration laws.”
Rice argued that caring for people does not require Christians to reject lawful limits or enforcement.
“That is very, very manipulative. No one would say that because you love people or care for people, you should leave the doors of your house unlocked, or you should open up the jail cells in your own community,” he said.
He also pointed to abortion as an issue grounded in the biblical teaching that human beings are made in the image of God.
“It’s as relevant and as critical and as important as it has ever been,” Rice said.
“Pastors need to continue to articulate not just how to vote on these issues, but why we need to vote those ways,” he said.
Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said Rice’s comments reflect a principle he has encouraged Georgia Baptists to consider as elections approach. Griffin’s role with the GBMB includes work on ethical and religious liberty issues at the state Capitol and with churches around Georgia.
“As Georgia Baptists, we never instruct our church members about who to vote for,” Griffin said. “Our main desire is that every voter be well informed up and down the ballot.”
Griffin said Christians should know where candidates stand on issues before casting their ballots and should not conclude that participation in government is somehow inconsistent with spiritual life.
“We can never allow ourselves to believe we are too ‘spiritual’ to get involved in government,” Griffin said. “Government is one of the institutions that God came up with.”
He pointed to Romans 13 and said Christians should pray for wisdom and discernment as they participate in the political process.
“We cannot emphasize enough how important it is to go to the polls and vote according to your Biblical convictions,” Griffin said.
Rice’s Fox News interview was posted Oct. 4, as the 2026 midterm election campaign entered its final weeks.
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