For ministries that Southern Baptists do together, the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is an important time. There each entity must give an account of its faithfulness to the tasks assigned it by messengers and share how God is working through it.
The annual meeting provides opportunity for messengers from across the United States to express their judgments about the various ministries, choose those who will oversee the work of each ministry as directors and trustees and express their collective views about issues facing Southern Baptists and the nation.
The annual meeting is primarily a business time filled with reports, resolutions, motions and elections. Without this work, the SBC could not function.
When Southern Baptists gather in Phoenix June 14–15 for this year’s annual meeting, it is possible that this important work will be left to the fewest number of messengers to attend an annual meeting since the close of World War II.
In 2003, when the SBC last met in Phoenix, the official registration totaled 7,077, the lowest number of messengers since 1951 when 6,493 messengers gathered in San Francisco.
Over the last decade, attendance has been under 10,000 seven times. Last year, in Orlando, Fla., controversy over the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force’s report and the election of a new convention president helped push registration over the 10,000 mark. This year, no issue has captured Southern Baptists’ attention in such a way. The primary business item may be a report from the Executive Committee about how to proactively involve ethnics in convention leadership.
And Bryant Wright, senior pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Marietta, Ga., is expected to be elected to a second one-year term as president without opposition.
For those who like annual meetings filled with tension, debate and disagreements, this one is likely to be rather boring.
Perhaps that is why Wright and other convention planners have made several changes in the program. Chief among them are missionary appointment services by both the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board. Missions is the heartbeat of Southern Baptists, and by having an appointment service as the final item each day, it is hoped that messengers will be inspired and encouraged about what God is doing through the SBC.
Another change is eliminating evening sessions. What used to take Southern Baptists three full days to do now will be done in four sessions, totaling about 15 hours. Planners hope that having evenings free each day will keep messengers focused on convention business during the daytime sessions.
What has not changed is completing most of the major business items on the first day: adopting the annual budget, electing the president and approving nominees for various boards, commissions and agencies.
Still it is questionable whether these revisions can overcome the challenges faced by any group’s annual convention this year. Phoenix is a long way from the numerical strength of Southern Baptists. Even though the Phoenix-Tucson corridor has about 5.2 million people, the number of Southern Baptists in all of Arizona is about 85,000, less than the number of Southern Baptists in Mobile and Baldwin Baptist associations combined.
Given the economic recession, many will have to bypass this year’s annual meeting no matter where it is held. Church receipts are such that only absolutely necessary expenses are being incurred, and some church members may not include conference and convention expenses as absolutely necessary. Too, the lack of major issues may cause some to conclude that attending this year’s annual meeting is not a necessity.
In Alabama, the impact of the April 27 tornadoes will shave back the number of messengers from cooperating churches who travel to Phoenix for the convention.
No matter how many attend, Alabama Baptists will be well-represented on the program. David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, has the honor of preaching the convention sermon. Jason Breland, worship pastor of First Baptist Church, North Mobile, in Saraland, will lead worship in all four sessions. He will be joined by the worship band of First, North Mobile.
In an unusual twist, Alabama Baptist evangelist Bob Pitman will preach during the SBC Pastors Conference. While Pitman always delivers a powerful sermon, what makes this unusual is that the president of this year’s Pastors Conference is his son Vance, senior pastor of Hope Baptist Church, Las Vegas.
Of course, several members of Alabama Baptist churches will be on the program of the national Woman’s Missionary Union missions celebration and annual meeting since the national office of that missions organization is located in the Birmingham area.
Perhaps it is the upcoming report on involving ethnics in convention leadership that caused this writer to notice the ethnic fellowships meeting in connection with the SBC annual meeting. They are the National African American Fellowship, the Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship of North America, the Fellowship of Native American Christians and the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship.
Among other ethnic groups with which Southern Baptists cooperate are conventions of Hispanic, Korean, Chinese, Romanian and Russian Baptists. There are other growing groups representing Baptists from various African countries, including Arab countries, and others.
Southern Baptists are the most diverse evangelical convention in terms of number of ethnic participants and ethnic groups included. Perhaps it is time for proactive efforts to make sure the rich heritage they bring to SBC life is reflected in leadership roles.
This week’s issue of The Alabama Baptist provides a preview of this year’s annual meeting (see pages 11–14). If you plan to attend, then the preview will be a valuable resource for you. If you are unable to attend, then the preview can be a prayer guide as you lift up this important time when Southern Baptists gather to affirm the convention’s corporate direction for the coming year.
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