Southern Baptists elected a new leader who has decried a “decline and drift” within the denomination. His supporters include an outspoken faction seeking to move the solidly conservative body even further to the right. Delegates elected Florida pastor Willy Rice to be its next president by a decisive margin over South Carolina pastor Josh Powell. The vote happened on the opening day of the Southern Baptist Convention's two-day annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Delegates from across the nation's largest Protestant denomination are expected to vote on a constitutional amendment to formally ban churches with women pastors. The meeting will also address resolutions on antisemitism and immigration.

Southern Baptists will gather for their annual meeting on Tuesday. And for the fourth year in a row, they'll debate whether to formally ban churches with a woman in any role resembling that of pastor. One thing they're unlikely to debate is any noticeable change in the politics of many Southern Baptists. They form the vanguard of the broader white conservative evangelical support for President Donald Trump. More than 11,000 church representatives have preregistered for the two-day meeting in Orlando, Florida. The Southern Baptist Convention's membership has declined to its lowest since 1973, but it remains influential as the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.