Final details are in motion as Baptists from across the state plan to gather in Huntsville next week for a variety of annual events, the main one of which is the Alabama Baptist State Convention Annual Meeting, being held this year at Whitesburg Baptist Church on Tuesday, Nov. 11, and Wednesday, Nov. 12.
Whitesburg has two campuses with the main campus at 6806 Whitesburg Drive hosting the state convention meeting and exhibit hall on Nov. 11–12 as well as the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference sessions and meals hosted by Pastors Conference sponsors on Monday, Nov. 10.
The Pastors Conference also will showcase nearly 40 vendors spread throughout the facility and a continuously running coffee bar hosted by The Alabama Baptist and TAB Media Group team.
All other meals and auxiliary meetings are being held at the south campus at 7800 Whitesburg Drive or another location around Whitesburg (see details on specific groups below).
State convention
Regarding the state convention annual meeting, registration tables will be set up Monday so messengers and guests can sign in and receive their badges, programs, ballots, Book of Reports, etc., whenever they first arrive on campus.
Along with electing a new slate of convention officers (find more information on the nominees in this earlier article), messengers will assess and vote on the 2026 Cooperative Program allocation budget for missions and ministries, special offering goals, resolutions and other business items.
Those attending the annual meeting also will hear presentations from the convention theme — Compelled, 2 Corinthians 5:14 — and outgoing state convention president Craig Carlisle’s address to Alabama Baptists. Andy John King, pastor of Lindsay Lane Baptist Church in Athens, will deliver the convention sermon at the close on Wednesday.
Special recognitions, reports and updates from the ministries of the State Board of Missions will be the focus of Tuesday afternoon, along with a report from SBOM executive director Rick Lance. The Tuesday evening session will feature Jeff Iorg, president of the SBC Executive Committee.
Throughout the two-day meeting, Lance also will host on-stage conversations with leaders of the six Baptist entities (TAB, Children’s Homes, Shocco, TBFA, Retirement Centers and Historical Commission), two schools (University of Mobile and Samford University) and two auxiliaries (Alabama WMU and ALCAP) connected to Alabama Baptist life.
Still need to register as a messenger or find out about area hotels? Want information on the schedule or how to download the app? Check out alsbom.org/convention.
Pastors Conference
Chad Hess, pastor of Woodmont Baptist Church in Florence, serves as president of the 2025 Pastors Conference and works with a team of officers including president-elect Carl Williams, pastor of FBC Demopolis, and vice president Chris Jones, pastor of Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Birmingham. These positions are one-year, volunteer terms. Richard Richie, pastor of Blue Springs Baptist Church in Somerville, serves in the ongoing secretary-treasurer role.
Seven speakers including Richard Blackaby and Jay Wolf will preach on the conference’s theme: The Preeminence of Christ. If you receive a physical copy of the program on Monday, you’ll notice one speaker change took place after the program was printed.
Ed Newton, pastor of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas, was the planned preacher for the opening slot of the evening session. However, he was replaced by John Brock, pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Florence, after Newton’s wife Stephanie shared the Sunday morning, Oct. 26, message at Community Bible Church.
“The Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference is a day filled with Christ-centered preaching, encouragement and prayer. Unity has been a key characteristic of the Alabama Baptist pastors,” Hess shared with The Alabama Baptist. “Ed Newton, pastor at Community Bible Church, recently made decisions concerning pastoral/preaching roles that would challenge our unity.
“Ed and I graciously and humbly agreed that the 2025 Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference should be free from division or distraction leading to a mutual decision for him to step down from speaking at this year’s conference. Instead, Alabama Baptists will be blessed to hear from Dr. John Brock, senior pastor at Highland Baptist Church,” Hess said.
“John has led with excellence in church replanting, church planting and evangelism. The Lord has used John Brock’s ministry to equip and send out a new generation of worship leaders, pastors and servant-leaders making an impact locally and around the world. As always, I am humbled to serve Alabama Baptist pastors through the pastors conference as we focus on the preeminence of Christ.”
More details on the Pastors Conference, including the schedule are online at albaptistpc.com. The morning session begins at 9 a.m. in the main sanctuary at Whitesburg, and the evening session begins at 6 p.m. with the presentation of the annual Fred Wolfe Lifetime Pastoral Ministry Award.
Other related meetings
Sunday, Nov. 9
•Alabama Church Planter Network dinner and program at Essential Church in Huntsville, 5–9 p.m. For more information, visit plantalabama.org/events.
Monday, Nov. 10
•Alabama Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders will meet at Whitesburg Baptist Church South Campus, 8 a.m.–1 p.m. Richard Blackaby will speak. For more information, visit abcal.online.
•Church and Community Ministries members will gather at Lincoln Village Ministry in Huntsville, 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Contact Kristy Kennedy at 334- 613-2311 or kkennedy@alsbom.org for more information.
•Unite: A Gathering of Alabama Baptist College Ministry Leaders will be at the Baptist Campus Ministries of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, 4–8 p.m.
•Alabama Singing Men/Women — Alabama Singing Men and Women will hold a fellowship banquet at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Madison at 6 p.m. after a joint rehearsal at 5:15 p.m.
•Friends of TAB dinner will take place on Whitesburg’s South Campus, second floor, at 5:30 p.m. Reservations are closed but contact Jennifer Rash at jrash@thealabamabaptist.org if interested in case a spot has opened up.
•Hispanic pastors and leaders will meet Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. at Lakewood Baptist Church in Huntsville.
Tuesday, Nov. 11
(Reservations are technically closed for these meals, but contact Jennifer Rash at jrash@thealabamabaptist.org if interested in case a spot has opened up.)
•Youth ministers will meet at the Baptist Campus Ministries at UAH, 11:45 a.m.–1 p.m.
•Southwestern Seminary’s alumni lunch will be at Whitesburg’s South Campus in the Grooms Room at noon.
•Southern Seminary’s alumni lunch will be at Whitesburg’s South Campus, 12–1:30 p.m.
•Alabama Citizens Action Program’s lunch will be at Whitesburg’s South Campus, 12–1:15 p.m.
•Disciple-Making Leaders will meet Whitesburg’s South Campus, 12–1 p.m.
•Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries’ lunch will be at Whitesburg’s South Campus, 12–1:30 p.m. in the Hearthside Room.
•Alabama Baptist Young Pastors’ Cohort Dinner for those “40ish and under” will meet Whitesburg’s South Campus, 4:45–6 p.m.
•New Orleans Seminary will hold an alumni dinner at Whitesburg’s South Campus, 5 p.m.
•University of Mobile dinner for alumni and current and future students, Amerigo Italian Restaurant, 9020 Memorial Parkway SW, 6 p.m. (Reservations are required.)
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