Local pastors said a unanimous, “electrified” crowd of Southern Baptists made history Tuesday, choosing the denomination’s first black president, the Rev. Fred Luter Jr., at their annual meeting in New Orleans.

Luter takes office at the end of the day today.

“The spirit in the convention was one of unity and ‘let’s stand together,’” said the Rev. Kent Campbell, pastor of Warren County’s Woodlawn Baptist Church, one of several Vicksburg-area pastors who attended the convention. “It was almost electric in the hall.”

“It was a historic day,” said the Rev. Dr. Matt Buckles of First Baptist Church of Vicksburg, who also attended. “It makes me proud to be a Southern Baptist, to elect Fred Luter our next president.”

For the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, Luter’s election is seen as an important step for a denomination that was formed on the side supporting slavery before the Civil War and had a reputation for supporting segregation and racism during much of the last century.

In a news conference after the vote, Luter said he doesn’t think his election is some kind of token gesture.

“If we stop appointing African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics to leadership positions after this, we’ve failed,” he said. “… I promise you I’m going to do all that I can to make sure this is not just a one-and-done deal.”

“Dr. Luter is an outstanding church leader and pastor, a man of God, a man of integrity,” Buckles said. “This is his time. He is definitely the right choice.”

Luter was unopposed when he was elected in his hometown by thousands of enthusiastic delegates. Campbell said it is not all that common to see nominees run unopposed, and Southern Baptists have known about, and supported, his presidency for months.

“He demonstrates the love of Christ, he doesn’t just talk about it,” Campbell said.

Luter spoke about the decline in SBC membership in recent years and his own efforts to grow his church, which included intensive outreach to men, and his concern that men in his inner-city neighborhood were not taking responsibility for their children.

He began to cry as he recalled growing up with a divorced mother and no father in the house, saying he asked God, “Let me be that role model to my son that I didn’t have.” And he recounted how his son followed him into ministry and asked Luter to be his best man at his wedding.

Luter described what he hopes to achieve for the convention, saying he has always had the ability to get along with everyone. He plans to use that skill to bring denominational leaders together to discuss how they can leave aside their differences and work together to spread the Gospel.

Pastor David Crosby of First Baptist New Orleans nominated Luter, calling him a “fire-breathing, miracle-working pastor” who “would likely be a candidate for sainthood if he were Catholic.”

Crosby said the SBC needs Luter at the head of the table as it increasingly focuses on diversifying its membership.

“Many leaders are convinced this nomination is happening now by the provenance of God,” he said.

A minister from Luter’s church, Darren Martin, said the SBC’s past support of slavery and segregation are well known, but Luter’s election was “a true sign … that change from within has really come. …Christ is at the center of the SBC.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.