Southern Baptists elect 1st black president

NEWS ORLEANS - The Southern Baptist Convention has chosen its first African-American leader.
  
The Rev. Fred Luter Jr. was elected president of the nation's largest Protestant denomination at its annual meeting. Luter, a New Orleans pastor, was unopposed and tearfully praised God as he received a standing ovation.
  
The historic move comes as the nation's largest Protestant denomination seeks to continue growing beyond its traditional white Southern base. Membership and baptisms have been flat or declining in recent years.
  
The denomination was formed before the Civil War in a split with northern Baptists over slavery and had a reputation over much of the last century for supporting segregation.
  
Seventeen years ago, Luter was one of the authors of a Southern Baptist resolution that apologized to African-Americans and resolved to strive for racial reconciliation.