Biography
Wright was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of South Carolina in 1974 and a Master of Divinity from Southern Baptist Seminary in 1980.
He received honorary doctorates from SEFOVAN Seminary, Madrid, Spain - June 2007 and University of South Carolina - May 2011. In 1981 he became Senior Pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in northwest metro Atlanta, with 8,000 plus members as of 2012. As of January, 2012, Johnson Ferry had average worship attendance of over 4,600. In 1992 he founded Right From The Heart Ministries, a radio, television and internet ministry that airs 30- to 60-second inspirational spots on secular radio and television.
Wright is a strong supporter of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force established by his predecessor, which issued a report that calls for rejuvenation of the SBC with greater emphasis on evangelism. He has called on pastors to try to make more Cooperative Program funding available for missions to unreached people in the world. He has said he dreams of seeing every Southern Baptist pastor and church take at least one mission trip. Wright calls himself as "a follower of Jesus Christ that believes the Bible" and says "I really don't believe that human beings are ever going to completely reconcile the sovereignty of God and the free will of man". At the 2011 Southern Baptist Convention, Wright joined Tom Elliff, IMB president, in challenging Southern Baptist churches to claim responsibility by the 2012 SBC annual meeting for reaching all 3,800 unengaged, unreached people groups (UUPG). A UUPG is a distinct people group somewhere in the world with no believers and no one trying to reach them with the gospel.
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