Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt has announced that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

In a statement released through the Baptist Press, he said he will undergo initial treatment in January.

The 57-year-old Hunt, pastor of the Atlanta-area First Baptist Church of Woodstock, was elected SBC president at the convention's June 2008 annual meeting in Indianapolis and re-elected at this year's meeting in Louisville, Ky.

Hunt said he believes the cancer was detected early and that doctors have monitored his prostate carefully.