The Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting was held in Birmingham, AL, on June 11-12, 2019. Ancillary events took place the week leading up to the annual meeting and some are recapped below. This executive summary is our attempt to create a complete recap of the business the Southern Baptist Convention did while convened this year as well as a snapshot of the other events that took place surrounding the meeting itself. You can listen to our podcast recap here.
Stats
- Unofficial Messenger Count: 8,183
- Estimated Registered Guests: 2,000
- Estimated Registered Vendors: 1,800
- ESTIMATED TOTAL PARTICIPANTS: 11,983
Business
The annual meeting has four main business sections: motions, elections, recommendations, and resolutions.
Motions – 18 of 23 were referred, 5 were ruled out of order.
Elections – The body elected the following: President, J.D. Greear; 1VP, Marshal Ausberry; 2VP, Noe Garcia; Recording Secretary, John Yeats; Registration Secretary, Kathy Litton
Recommendations – The body approved eight recommendations from the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention including a bylaw change to create a standing credentials committee and a new registration committee.
Resolutions – The body passed 13 resolutions:
- Resolution 1 – On Celebrating The Advancement Of Pro-Life Legislation In State Legislatures
- Resolution 2 – On The Evil Of Sexual Abuse
- Resolution 3 – On Local Church Autonomy
- Resolution 4 – On Religious Persecution And Human Rights Violations In North Korea And China
- Resolution 5 – On Sexuality And Personal Identity
- Resolution 6 – On The Promotion Of A “Cooperative Culture” In The Southern Baptist Convention For Mission Advance
- Resolution 7 – On Biblical Justice
- Resolution 8 – On Contextual And Cultural Awareness For Ministry
- Resolution 9 – On Critical Race Theory And Intersectionality
- Resolution 10 – On Expanding The Selective Service To Include Women
- Resolution 11 – On Opposing Human Germline Editing
- Resolution 12 – On Gospel Allegiance And Political Engagement
- Resolution 13 – Resolution Of Appreciation
Entity Reports
Each entity and the WMU provide a report and answer questions from the convention at the annual meeting:
- Executive Committee – http://bit.ly/2WKVOKQ
- International Mission Board – http://bit.ly/2WGnb8O
- NAMB – http://bit.ly/2WKv0ub
- LifeWay – http://bit.ly/2WMaM3h
- GuideStone – http://bit.ly/2WKuIU7
- SBC Seminaries – http://bit.ly/2WKvnF5
- ERLC – http://bit.ly/2WJm48k
- WMU – http://bit.ly/2WHvLUJ
Panel Recaps
- Indispensable Partners: The Value of Women in God’s Mission
- Gospel Above All: Keeping Secondary Issues Secondary
- Undivided: Your Church and Racial Reconciliation
Other Items of Note
- The IMB commissioned 26 new missionaries.
- More than 850 people participated in the WMU Annual Missions Celebration at their headquarters in Birmingham.
- The annual Crossover evangelism outreach event saw Southern Baptists knock on 10,409 doors, have 1,817 Gospel conversations, pray with 2,251 people, and witness 364 come to faith in Christ.
- Pastor Stephen Rummage preached the convention sermon. Willy Rice was selected to deliver the convention sermon next year in Orlando.
- Monday night’s ERLC panel on sexual abuse drew nearly 1,200 attendees.
- Every messenger received a free copy of Becoming a Church That Cares Well for the Abused. You can get a free copy at churchcares.com.
- J.D. Greear led in a time of lament and repentance on the issue of sexual abuse in the SBC. The Sexual Abuse Advisory Group also presented their report to the SBC. It’s available to download here.
