Fred Luter, Jr. has served as the Senior Pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana since 1986. By 1989, Fred had grown his church to over 300 members and reaching more than 7,000 members by 2005. The church was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the congregation scattered, but he rebuilt the sanctuary in 2008. Since that year, membership at FABC has continued to grow. 



Fred was elected the Southern Baptist Convention's first African American Vice President in 2011, and he  made history again when he became SBC's first ever African American President at the annual meeting held in his hometown of New Orleans on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Fred and his wife, Elizabeth, have two grown children.