By staff
ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) — The Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting (June 10–11), will be hosted in Dallas, Texas, under the theme, “Hold Fast: Confession and Cooperation,” inspired by Hebrews 10:23–24, with 10,000 messengers and guests expected to visit the city for the business meetings and related events.
ELECTIONS
President
Clint Presley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, will be nominated for a second term as SBC president by Michael Criner, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Rockwall, Texas.
First VP
Daniel Ritchie, an author and evangelist from North Carolina, will be nominated for first vice president by Matt Capps, lead pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Apex, North Carolina.
Second VP
Craig Carlisle, current Alabama Baptist State Convention president and director of missions for Etowah Baptist Convention, will be nominated by Jared Cornutt, pastor of North Shelby Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Tommy Mann, pastor of Highland Terrace Baptist Church in Greenville, Texas, who will be nominated for SBC second vice president by Jim Gatliff, associational missionary for Hunt Baptist Association. Mann is originally from Orlando, Florida, and has served churches in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas during his more than 20-year ministry career.
Registration Secretary
Don Currence, current SBC registration secretary, will be nominated to serve again as registration secretary by Larry Craig, a member of Whitehouse Baptist Fellowship in Texas. Currence is the administrative pastor at First Baptist Church Ozark, Missouri, and is mayor of Ozark.
Recording Secretary
Nathan Finn, current SBC recording secretary Nathan Finn, professor and the executive director of the Institute for Faith and Culture at North Greenville University in South Carolina, will be renominated as recording secretary by Louisiana pastor Jay Adkins, pastor of First Baptist Church Westwego.
ISSUES
100 years of CP and BF & M
Messengers will celebrate 100 years of the Cooperative Program, the primary funding channel for cooperative missions and ministry (Committee on Resolutions report, Tuesday afternoon), and give special recognition to the Convention’s statement of faith and practice, the Baptist Faith & Message (Wednesday afternoon, follow-up report).
Women in ministry
Last year, the “Law amendment” (named after its Viriginia pastor originator Mike Law), which states a church could only be considered in friendly cooperation with the SBC if it “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture,” failed to gain a needed two-thirds majority for the second year in a row.
Amendments to the SBC Constitution need a two-thirds favorable vote by messengers in two consecutive years.
Proponents indicate they will bring the issue to the messengers in Dallas, intending for the emphasis to go beyond the senior pastor role.
Abuse reform
Last year, the messengers meeting in Indianapolis voted for the Executive Committee to establish a home for sexual abuse prevention.
Subsequently, EC president Jeff Iorg unveiled a three-part plan focused on launching a new Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response department, overhauling the SBC’s Business and Financial Plan for improved transparency, and allocating $3 million from the proposed $190 million Cooperative Program budget to help cover legal expenses from past abuse investigations. Meanwhile, Iorg announced that the development of a much-debated online abuse database is on hold in favor of a focus on abuse prevention training and accessing databases that already are available.
ERLC
The need for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has been challenged by messengers at multiple annual meetings. In recent months, public chatter suggests the issue will be raised again this year.
CROSSOVER
When Dallas hosted the 2018 SBC Annual Meeting, Crossover, an outreach effort which precedes the annual meeting, resulted in 1,015 recorded salvations. Meanwhile, a Harvest America crusade by Greg Laurie in partnership with the North American Mission Board added another 3,214 salvations.
However, in 2025, there will be no Greg Laurie event, and according to organizers, Crossover will be focused on grassroots, church-led efforts such as Vacation Bible School, backyard Bible clubs and block parties. Additionally, First Baptist Church Rockwall will host a youth rally at 6 p.m. on June 6, and Cross Church, North Richland Hills, will host another one at 4 p.m. on June 7.
Volunteer via namb.net/crossover. Learn more about Crossover student rallies via namb.net/crossover-student-rally.
Crossover salvations (2010-2024) 2024 -- 185 (Indianapolis) 2023 -- 336 (New Orleans) 2022 -- 574 (Anaheim) 2021 – 176 (Nashville) 2020 – pandemic 2019 – 364 (Birmingham) 2018 – 1,015 (Dallas), plus 3,214 during Harvest America by Greg Laurie 2017 – 151 (Phoenix), plus 3,398 during Harvest America by Greg Laurie 2016 – 556 (St, Louis) 2015 – 345 (Columbus) 2014 – 214 (Baltimore) 2013 – 582 (Houston) 2012 – 1,140 (New Orleans) 2011 – 1,131 (Phoenix) 2010 – 1,940 (Orlando)
Based on reporting by Content Editor Shawn Hendricks and Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Rash in The Baptist Paper.
