Six seeking to lead Southern Baptists

USA TODAY, June, 2008 by Cathy Lynn Grossman

Who will lead Southern Baptists and just how many members are there in what has long been counted as the USA's largest Protestant denomination?

The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, which will bring 9,500 members to Indianapolis next week, promises a contentious election for the presidency, which has the largest field in decades.

The six candidates range from conservatives backed by the leaders of the denomination's sharp turn toward doctrinal strictness in the 1970s to younger pastors who take a less hard-line stance and are promoted by bloggers.

The winner will succeed Frank Page, who won in 2006 with the help of bloggers. Until then, "it was pretty much cut and dried that one group would say we are supporting this person, and no...