Alabamians will be in the middle of all that happens when Southern Baptists gather in Nashville for the annual meeting of the national convention June 21–22.
Garnering the most pre-convention publicity is the all-out effort to saturate the Nashville area with the gospel. Known as Crossover Nashville, this is the largest such effort yet sponsored by Southern Baptists.
More than 12,000 people have pre-registered to participate in the ministry events, and hundreds of Alabamians are among them. Several churches are taking groups multiple times because Crossover encompasses numerous ministry opportunities over several weeks.
On Saturday, June 18, more than 2,000 volunteers are signed up to take part in a door-to-door gospel blitz. Alabama will be represented by 589 people from 173 churches who have pre-registered for the event.
And more are expected. Plans are in place to accommodate at least 2,000 more participants who do not pre-register.
Some will be needed to replace volunteers whose life situations force them to cancel at the last minute. Some will be needed to pick up assignments not yet filled.
Because Nashville is close to Alabama, officials are praying that scores of Alabama Baptists will show up at the Gaylord Entertainment Center before 9 a.m. Saturday to help share the gospel across the area.
At the day’s end, the volunteers will join area Baptists in a celebration service at the Gaylord Center. Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Bobby Welch set a goal of 10,000 people gathering to worship and celebrate what God does through Crossover. Again local planners indicate the 10,000-attendance goal will be reached.
Sunday afternoon’s pre-convention activities continue with the opening of the SBC Pastors Conference and the annual meeting of the national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). Both groups are led by Alabamians.
Steve Gaines, pastor of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church, is president of the Pastors Conference this year. He is responsible for planning the program and will preside at the various sessions.
Among those invited to preach are two Alabamians, evangelist and former SBC Vice President Junior Hill of Hartselle and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore of Gadsden. Both will speak on Monday.
Wanda Lee heads the national WMU as executive director. She is a member of Shades Crest Baptist Church, Birmingham.
Birmingham has been home to the national WMU office since 1921, and national WMU staff members continue to be active members of Birmingham-area churches. Some of these staff members will be featured on the national program.
Another Alabamian featured on the WMU program will be Fisher Humphreys, professor at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. Humphreys will lead Bible study at various WMU sessions.
All of this is preliminary to the convention itself, which begins Tuesday morning, June 21.
President Welch, a native of Fort Payne, has urged Southern Baptists to fill the 23,000-seat Gaylord Center for the annual meeting. For that to happen, Southern Baptists will have to triple the number of messengers registered for each of the past two conventions, 8,600 in 2004 and 7,077 in 2003.
For each of the last four years, the total of registered messengers has fallen below 10,000. The last time the number reached 23,000 was 1991 in Atlanta.
Less than 10 percent of Alabama Baptist churches sent messengers to each of the past two conventions. Four hundred ninety-seven Alabama Baptists registered as messengers in 2004 and 362 in 2003.
But this year’s annual meeting is not in Indianapolis as in 2004 or Phoenix in 2003. Nashville is within commuting distance for a large percentage of Alabama Baptists.
A day at the Southern Baptist Convention would make a wonderful day trip for church groups, for a family or for an individual. And, of course, all convention-related meetings are open to everyone.
Either day would be a good choice. The opening session Tuesday morning will climax with Welch’s president’s address.
That evening will feature a focus on missions in North America. Wednesday will be highlighted by the report of the International Mission Board.
A special feature Wednesday evening will be a tribute to Billy Graham. No one will say it for the record, but hints are that if Graham’s health permits, he may be present for the closing Wednesday-evening event.
We certainly hope so. Graham personifies Southern Baptists’ commitment to evangelism. He represents the best of what Southern Baptists attempt to be.
Alabama Baptists have a wonderful opportunity to be a part of this year’s annual meeting and all that goes with it.
From early Saturday morning until the closing convention gavel Wednesday evening, there will be something for everyone.
Make plans to go to the meeting in Nashville, at least for a day, and join fellow Alabama Baptists who will be a part of this historic SBC annual meeting.
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