FARMERSVILLE, Texas -- Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber doesn't sport a "Make America Great Again" hat. He doesn't wave a "Jesus is my savior; Trump is my president" sign. And his mud-splattered Texas pickup truck will never sport a "Let's Go Brandon" bumper sticker.

Nor is Barber, 54, festooning his possessions with any symbols of Democratic allegiance. He wants members of both major parties to feel welcome at the congregation he leads, First Baptist Church in Farmersville.

He asks congregants to abstain from political arguments during Sunday School classes. He tells journalists the roughly 13-million-member denomination he leads is far from monolithic.

Barber sees that reflected in his travels across the country, he said.

VARYING DEGREES

While most Southern Baptist pastors support the presumptive Republican nominee, they are doing so with varying degrees of enthusiasm, he said. A sizable minority hopes the 45th president never steps foot in the White House again, he noted.

"I think there's probably 25% of Southern Baptist pastors who are enthusiastically pro-Donald Trump. And I think that among Southern Baptist pastors, there's probably 20% who are kind of vocally 'Never Trump,'" Barber said in an interview Monday.

The remaining 55%, he believes, would say, "I'm going to be casting a ballot for Donald Trump and I hate that."

The alliance between what he referred to as "church house conservatism" and "bar stool conservatism" is "a very uneasy marriage. And Trump is bar stool conservatism,'' he said.

"I think that people who don't really have deep evangelical convictions don't feel the tension that much. People who do have strong evangelical convictions feel that tension greatly," he said.

Barber, who finishes his second one-year-term as convention president later this month, isn't on the cusp of making any political announcements; November's a long time away, he noted.

"I'm not going to speculate about how I'm going to vote, but I'm going to say that both of these men have served our country. Neither of them is as bad as what the other person says about them during the election," he said.

Whoever wins, Scripture commands Christians to honor them, he added.

Barber has served in Farmersville, population 3,612, since 1999.

But the northeast Arkansas native grew up in Lake City, population 2,326. His father, Jim Barber, worked in U.S. Rep. Bill Alexander's district office and helped Gov. Bill Clinton when he was running against Republican Frank White.

SWITCHED REGISTRATION

Days after the beginning of the Clinton presidency, the elder Barber switched his registration from Democrat to Republican, troubled by the leftward shift on abortion and gay people in the military, but he never questioned the sincerity of the 42nd president's faith.

In 1997, on the day Barber died of esophageal cancer at age 57, Clinton called his hospital room in Memphis so he could speak to his friend one final time.

It's a kindness Bart Barber will always remember.

No matter their political differences, "Dad never forgot that Bill Clinton was a person and never forgot that Bill Clinton was a person that he loved, even when he disagreed with him," Barber said.

"I watched my father do that and I want to try to disagree with President Biden or President Trump in the way I would disagree with my grandfather or uncle or a classmate in school," he said.

Previous generations were able to honor the office of the presidency, even if they disagreed with the current office holder.

SOUND THEOLOGY

Some might call it good manners; Barber maintains it's sound theology.

During his Sunday sermon, Barber urged his congregation to show respect to those in positions of authority, citing 1 Peter 2:13-15: "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people."

Verse 17 includes the following command: "Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor."

If St. Peter, who was imprisoned and eventually executed by Roman officials, could honor the emperor, Barber maintains Americans should be able to honor their president.

Barber isn't interested in owning the liberals -- or anyone else -- and he doesn't believe in demonizing those he disagrees with, even when he "profoundly" disagrees with their policies.

'A GREAT MANY LOSSES'

"President Biden is a person who has suffered a great many losses and has sacrificially served our country in many ways," Barber said during Monday's interview.

"The same faith that leads me to say that he's wrong about some of the things that he's doing is also the faith that teaches me that he holds the position of authority that he does because God has brought it to pass and teaches me to know that he's created in God's image," Barber said. "I have an obligation to honor and respect him and the office that he holds."

In October 2020, with the last presidential election nearing, Barber outlined on social media how he would treat the eventual winner.

"I called it the Barber pledge," he said. "This was before I thought about being SBC president. It was way back when I was just a pastor."

It states: "In January, if the Lord tarries, we will inaugurate a President of the United States. Whoever it may be ...

1. I will pray for him sincerely.

2. On every occasion when I can, I will praise good things he does.

3. I will look for the opportunity to pass over criticism of bad things he does.

4. Where I must criticize, I will do so with civility.

5. I will not tell jokes that are demeaning of him, nor will I encourage others in sharing such jokes with me.

6. I will not slander him by listening to, sharing, tweeting, or posting conspiracy theories about him.

7. Whenever I can do so without disobeying God, I will obey him."

At the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Indianapolis, Barber's time as president will draw to a close. His pledge, on the other hand, has no expiration date.

'PRAY FOR THE PRESIDENT'

"I believe that I have a God-commanded duty to pray for the president while he's in office, and I pray for President Biden. It's not these imprecatory prayers," Barber said. "I want God to bless him. I also want God to lead him to do better."

Between now and Election Day, he wants Sunday mornings to be charitable and gospel-focused.

For those seeking to inject politics, his message this week was "Don't. Just don't. Don't."

"All of the week except for the Sunday School hour, people are devoted to informing everybody around you about all of the big issues that are going on in the country and everything about politics," he told worshippers during this week's sermon. "Can't we just have one hour to talk about Jesus? That's important, too."

Whoever takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, whether it be Biden or whether it be Trump, there'll be a Farmersville preacher beseeching heaven on his behalf.

Bart Barber has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas for a quarter-century. (AP/Audrey Jackson)