SBTC messengers unified in convention business
By Southern Baptist TEXAN Staff
HOUSTON – Messengers to the 2024 Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Annual Meeting, gathered at Sagemont Baptist Church Nov. 11-12 to conduct the business necessary for the convention’s year-round work amid two days of fellowship and inspiration.
Only one motion was submitted from the floor, asking the convention to consider ways to assist congregations with insurance costs. The Committee on Order of Business assigned the motion to the SBTC Executive Board for consideration.
During the Tuesday morning business session, messenger Rob Collingsworth of Redemption City Church in Fort Worth raised a point of order regarding a motion adopted in 2022 that intended to clarify the SBTC Constitution’s qualifications for affiliation in Article IV. Collingsworth called the motion a “procedural violation” and a “de facto amendment to our constitution” that violated the process for making an amendment. The chair allowed messengers to consider the question of whether the motion in 2022 expanded the meaning of the constitution. After a lengthy discussion, messengers declared the 2022 motion in order.
The convention’s executive board recommended a 2025 budget of $27,833,488, which is equal to the 2024 budget. It shows no increase because the 2024 budget exceeded receipts collected in 2023. Cooperative Program receipts will continue to be allocated with 55 percent sent to the Southern Baptist Convention for worldwide ministries and 45 percent being retained for ministries in Texas. Messengers approved the budget without discussion.
Convention officers were each elected by acclamation. Danny Forshee, pastor of Great Hills Baptist Church in Austin, was elected to a second term as president. Ed Johnson III, church planter of Harvest Fellowship Baptist Church in Desoto, will serve as convention vice president. The convention’s secretary for 2025 is Amy Hinote of First Baptist Church in Justin.
Upon the recommendation of the Committee on Order of Business, messengers selected East Texas as the site for the 2027 annual meeting.
At final count, 1,122 people attended the annual meeting – 864 registered messengers and 258 registered guests representing 351 churches.
Planters commissioned in moving ceremony
Thirty-seven Send Network SBTC church planters were commissioned during the first night of the annual meeting. Those planters represent churches from every corner of Texas, from Abilene to College Station to San Antonio. They’re dispatched to locations big and small, from Houston and Fort Worth to Murphy and Mabank. Many of the planters stood hand-in-hand with their spouses and children.
It’s been a year to celebrate for Send Network SBTC, the church planting partnership between the SBTC and the North American Mission Board. Send Network SBTC recently completed the largest assessment weekend in the history of the national Send Network, with 31 planters assessed. By the end of this year, Send Network SBTC will have planted between 60-65 churches – the largest number since 2005.
The Gospel hits the streets of Houston during Crossover event
Ten or so teams representing a dozen area churches participating in Crossover Houston on Nov. 9. The event was held in conjunction with the 2024 SBTC Annual Meeting that began the next day. The Houston initiative was patterned after Crossover events held prior to the national Southern Baptist Convention each year.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to join efforts in spreading the message of hope and redemption to folks in the Houston area,” said Tony Mathews, SBTC’s senior strategist of Missional Ministries. The SBTC coordinated the event with Sagemont Church, host of the annual meeting. The event included not only outreach, but also evangelism training for participants.
Georgia Baptists answering the call, leading the way
By Henry Durand/The Christian Index
STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Baptists wrapped up their annual meeting, with the theme “Answer the Call,” on Nov. 12 in Statesboro. This year’s theme built upon last year’s, which was “Calling out the Called.”
Some 860 messengers gathered at First Baptist Statesboro for the three-day event, which kicked off Sunday, Nov. 10 with an inspirational service.
During that service, W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, and Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, signed a partnership to plant churches in the state. “They know how to plant churches. They know how to do the assessments, and how to do training, and how to do the necessary equipping and mentoring and coaching. and what we have are the churches that say, ‘We want to plant churches in Georgia.’” Ezell agreed, saying “NAMB does not plant churches, churches plant churches.”
Through the efforts of Send Network Georgia, Hammond hopes to reach the nearly 7 million people in Georgia that are lost, a number that is growing as the state’s population increases.
In his executive director’s report to the convention, Hammond celebrated the thriving ministry of Georgia Baptists to their state, and shared ways in which Georgia Baptists are “leading the way.” Whether it be through church revitalization efforts, equipping church leaders and members, reaching the next generation, empowering women for ministry, or caring for the well-being of pastors, Georgia Baptists are working hard to make an impact in the state.
Through Mission Georgia, the statewide missions offering, Georgia Baptists are making it possible to reach the state by meeting needs and serving in challenging circumstances. From foster care to literacy, disaster relief to prison ministry, Georgia Baptist churches are being equipped and empowered to respond compassionately just as Christ would.
David Melber, chief operating officer of the GBMB, told messengers that the GBMB projects an increase in Cooperative Program giving for 2025. The board projects CP giving in 2025 to be more than $34 million, a 2.5 percent increase from 2024. Georgia Baptists are anticipated to give almost $17 million to the International Mission Board and more than $9 million to the North American Mission Board in 2025. The portion forwarded to national and international SBC causes remains 40 percent.
Georgia Baptists also elected a new slate of officers to lead them in 2025. Steve Browning, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Alpharetta, was elected as president.
This year, due to a change in the convention’s bylaws, only two vice presidents were elected. Garrett Grubbs, senior pastor at Crossroads Baptist Church in Valdosta, will serve as first vice president, and Benjamin Moore, pastor at Salem Bilingual Church and youth pastor at Salem Baptist Church in Dalton, was voted in as second vice president.
Georgia Baptists passed resolutions expressing their support for passage of a religious freedom restoration act in the state, as well as affirming the right to life of every human being.
Next year’s annual meeting will be held at First Baptist Church of Atlanta on Nov. 10-11.
All the sessions of the 2024 annual meeting can be accessed on the ACTS2 website.
