Fred Luter

Pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, former President, Southern Baptist Convention

Fred J. Luter Jr. (born 1956 November 11 in New Orleans) is a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). He was elected on 2012 June 19, and he is SBC’s first African-American president. Luter is senior minister of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. Before Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, the congregation had grown to over 7000 members, making it the largest congregation affiliated with SBC in Louisiana. Luter led the rebuilding of the membership after the diaspora from Katrina, and as of his election to the Southern Baptist presidency, the congregation had 5000 members. In 1980 Fred Luter married Elizabeth W. Luter. The couple has two children.