Pastors Conference to emphasize biblical teaching

Alabama Baptists will hear the importance of emphasizing biblical teaching during the Nov. 12 Pastors Conference at Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville.
   
Scheduled in advance of the Alabama Baptist State Convention Nov. 13–14 in Huntsville, this year’s conference includes speakers who Pastors Conference president Roger Willmore said are known for their commitment to biblical teaching.
   
Willmore, pastor of First Baptist Church in Weaver, said the theme for this year’s conference is “Preach the Word,” from 2 Timothy 4:2. While asking speakers to support that theme, Willmore said he has not assigned pastors a topic and hopes they will preach as the Lord leads them.
   
“However, my burden is to challenge the pastors of Alabama to ‘Preach the Word,’” Willmore said. “My desire is for this preachers conference to give emphasis to the preeminence of preaching in the church today.
   
“The conference is designed to call pastors and preachers to a commitment to biblical preaching,” Willmore added.
   
Bob Terry, editor of The Alabama Baptist, will deliver the conference’s first sermon.
   
“Dr. Terry has a reputation in our state of being an encourager to pastors and preachers and really everyone in ministry,” Willmore said.
   
Terry will be followed by Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., and Stephen F. Olford of the Stephen Olford Center for Biblical Preaching in Memphis. Willmore served at the Olford Center prior to coming to First, Weaver.
   
Other speakers include:
   
–Don Graham, a revivalist from Clanton;
   
–Robert Smith Jr., preaching professor at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School;
   
–Mac Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas;
   
–James Merritt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of First Baptist Church,
Snellville, Ga.
   
Willmore said speakers will deliver sermons emphasizing a teaching style that has been minimized in the past few years.
   
“The contemporary church has replaced preaching with a lot of other things,” Willmore said. “I feel like preaching has been relegated to the sidelines.”
   
The conference will also include election of Pastors Conference officers, along with praise and worship before and between speakers.
   
Jean Cullen, wife of First Baptist Church, Vincent, Pastor Lon Cullen, and the daughter of Bob Terry, will sing prior to her father’s sermon. The conference music will be led by Alabama evangelist Dwayne Moore.
   
Also scheduled to present music are the Rick Evans Family from Montgomery, the Celebration Choir of First Baptist Church, Weaver, and the Whitesburg Baptist Church sanctuary choir.
   
Along with the business of electing new officers and receiving insight on how to become a better speaker, Willmore said he believes the Pastors Conference also provides a time of fellowship. “I think a pastors conference becomes a time of mutual encouragement.”
   
The Web site for the conference is alsbom.org/convention/pastors.