The Rev. Johnny Hunt, pastor of a Cherokee County megachurch, was elected Tuesday as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and will take over as head of the nation's largest Protestant denomination as it is struggling with declining membership and number of baptisms.

Hunt, 55, beat out five other candidates for the unpaid job that transforms him into the public face of the denomination for the next year.

Renee Brock/Special (ENLARGE)

The Rev. Johnny Hunt, 55, of First Baptist in Woodstock beat out five other Southern Baptist candidates.

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His election, at the SBC's annual meeting in Indianapolis, is seen as a victory for the more fundamentalist wing of the denomination, which led the conservative resurgence that began in the late 1970s and takes a hard line on the inerrancy of Scripture. It is seen as a rejection of young reformers, who have questioned the SBC leadership's reluctance to consider a wider range of issues such as its bans on alcohol consumption and female pastors.

"This signals that the establishment conservatives are definitely in charge," said Greg Warner, executive editor of the Associated Baptist Press, an independent news service.

The current SBC president, the Rev. Frank Page of Taylors, S.C., had been welcomed by reformers for opening up the SBC leadership structure and for keeping his focus on church growth and mission, rather than culture war issues or internal doctrinal battles.

But Hunt's election, said Warner, could signal that Page's tenure was just a "blip on the screen" for the denomination.

The ease of Hunt's election was surprising. With an unusually large field, a runoff was expected. Among the candidates was the Rev. Frank Cox of North Metro First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville.

Hunt is a Lumbee Indian, a North Carolina-based tribe. SBC officials could not immediately confirm whether he is the denomination's first Native American president.

During a speech to pastors Sunday, Hunt acknowledged the difficulties facing the SBC. Baptisms, a key sign of spiritual health for Southern Baptists, have fallen to a 20-year low. Membership dipped to 16.27 million last year from 16.3 million. Except for a drop in membership in 1998, the last decrease was in 1926.

Hunt's own church, First Baptist in Woodstock, has an average Sunday attendance of about 6,800. The campus is spread over 82 acres and has a $54 million sanctuary.

Hunt said he would try to unite Baptists around common causes and use his experience mentoring younger pastors to reach out to a younger generation.

"We come across almost only for what we're against when there's so many wonderful things we're for," Hunt said.

— Staff writer Christopher Quinn and The Associated Press contributed to this article.