James Merritt
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James Merritt, born December 22, 1952, is a U.S. religious leader and former President of the Southern Baptist Convention.
James Merritt is the son of Glen and Miriam Merritt. At the age of 18, after graduating from South Hall High School in Hall County, Georgia, Merritt left home and moved to DeLand, Florida, to attend Stetson University where he graduated with a degree in accounting. Soon after he married his wife, Teresa, the couple moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where Merritt attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
After finishing there with a Master of Divinity degree and a PhD, Merritt pastored Highland Baptist Church in Laurel, Mississippi for three years, and then finally moved back to Snellville, Georgia to pastor the First Baptist Church of Snellville. During his tenure, the congregation grew from 500 to over 13,000 members.
In 2000, James Merritt was elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest evangelical denomination in the world, as which he served two terms. During his terms as the first baby boomer SBC President, he met with President George W. Bush on several occasions and travelled to every region of the world encouraging the SBC missionaries. During this time, Merritt also appeared on numerous media programs such as repeated appearances on FoxNews' Hannity and Colmes, Sunday with Tony Snow, MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 60 Minutes and others.
In 2003, Merritt left First Baptist Snellville to begin Cross Pointe, The Church at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. He is CEO of Touching Lives Ministry, an internationally-televised religious program, and he is also the author of 4 books including "Friends, Foes and Fools" and "How to be a Winner and Influence Anybody."
James Merritt has three sons, James Jr., Jonathan and Joshua and one daughter-in-law, Natalie Merritt. He and his family reside outside of Atlanta, GA.
