2018 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas

NASHVILLE (BP) -- The 2018 Southern Baptist Convention Annual has been posted online, with hard copies available for order. The Annual is a comprehensive collection of reports, budgets and proceedings from the June 12-13 SBC annual meeting in Dallas as well as a compilation of historical data and reports from convention entities. Among the data available in this year's Annual:

DALLAS (BP) -- Nearly twice as many messengers attended the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting when compared to the previous year, fueled by a strong Southern Baptist presence in Texas, the SBC Executive Committee has announced. The latest registration report also showed increases in first-time attendees and those in the 18- to 39-year-old range. Messengers in Dallas totaled 9,632, SBC registration secretary Don ...

Nate Adams recounts the change in his attitude about the SBC annual meeting from "Who cares?" years ago to "Who decides?" the direction of the convention's entities in the cause of Christ, their doctrinal positions and leadership.

BRANDON, Miss. (BP) -- Women & Work, a ministry launched this year with a panel at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting, seeks to fill a void in Baptist life for women who want to contribute to the Kingdom by working in ministry, working from home or working in the secular world. Courtney L. Moore, the ministry's founder, is a stay-at-home mother of three and pastor's wife in Brandon, Miss., and she explained that her personal journey is part of what led her to start Women & Work. She felt called to ministry in high school but didn't know many women in full-time ministry.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Newly elected Southern Baptist Convention president J.D. Greear addressed topics ranging from the #MeToo crisis to politics and evangelicals in a recent interview with NPR, one of his first since taking the role. In a June 25 interview with Rachel Martin of NPR's Morning Edition, Greear said that even though evangelical Christians may appear to have a "restless conscience right now," that restlessness has the potential to usher in healthy self-evaluation and repentance.

DALLAS (BP) -- On the eve of this year's Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, Connect 316 -- an organization advocating a "traditionalist" view of salvation -- convened for a prayer meeting in lieu of its annual celebration. "We heard" outgoing SBC President Steve Gaines' call to prayer, Connect 316 executive board member Tim Barnette told the June 11 gathering at the Dallas Omni. "So we wanted to join him in that and support that because we believe, like Jerry Falwell Sr. used to say, that nothing of eternal consequence takes place apart from concerted prayer. We believe what James says, that the prayer of the righteous is intensely powerful."

DALLAS (BP) -- The North American Mission Board's exhibit featured its Send Relief compassion ministry as well as Send Network church planting emphasis at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Dallas. "The overall theme is sending hope," NAMB director of events Lee Cunningham said. "We highlighted the five Send Relief focus areas and encouraged people to two calls to action: writing notes for church planters and recording a Gospel Conversation (GC) Challenge video. The exhibit design was made to bring these two things together across NAMB and Send Relief."

DALLAS (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's current condition and how churches should engage politics were topics of conversation at this year's 9Marks evening events, June 11-12, in Dallas. Mark Dever moderated both 9Marks events, hosted with Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dever is the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and president of 9Marks, an organization dedicated to helping foster church health. The events, which started at 9 p.m., were held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting.

DALLAS (BP) -- Prior to the annual Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted a Text-Driven Preaching "MicroConference" June 10 on the value of text-driven preaching. Moderated by David Allen, dean of Southwestern's school of preaching, the conference featured a panel of two SWBTS professors and three students who advocated text-driven preaching as the best means for communicating God's Word to His people.

DALLAS (BP) -- Southern Baptists should take a strong stand against all forms of abuse and fight to create gracious church environments in which abuse victims are heard and loved, panelists said during the Baptist21 luncheon on June 12 in Dallas. More than 1,300 people attended the sold-out event in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center during the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting to hear seven Southern Baptist leaders address the theme of "United and Diverse: Critical Issues for our Cooperative Future."