2024 SBC UPDATE

With 10,946 registered messengers with at least one messenger from each of the 50 states, the Southern Baptist Convention met in Indianapolis June 11-12 for the Annual Meeting.

Georgia Baptist Fellowship

For the second time in as many years the GBMB hosted a fellowship for all Georgia Baptists. We saw more than 500 attend after the last business session Tuesday evening. We are hearing from leaders around the state how much this time meant to them as they were able to connect with others around the state. As one pastor put it, “These are my people.”

Missionaries Commissioned

As always, the highlight of the convention is the commissioning of missionaries. Most of you remember this type of commissioning during the Georgia Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting just a couple of years ago. In Indianapolis, we saw 83 missionaries sent around the world. Many of them stood behind screens protecting their identity as they will be going to closed countries to serve.

Officers Elected

Clint Pressley, Senior Pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC was elected President of the SBC 2024-2025. Brad Graves, pastor of First Baptist Church, Ada, Oklahoma is the First Vice President, and Eddie Lopez, senior pastor of Forney, TX FBC en Espanol was elected Second Vice President. Don Currence was named registration secretary and Nathan Finn was named recording secretary.

Other Business

The messengers did not approve an amendment to the SBC Constitution that had become known as the Law Amendment. Amendments to the Constitution require 2/3 majority vote at two consecutive conventions to pass. It did not reach the 2/3 threshold in 2024, thus it did not pass. The Amendment would have added the following to the SBC Constitution defining a “cooperating church:”

6. Affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.

Reports from several task forces were presented:

• The Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force. The report was approved by the convention. The report is 50 pages in length and you can find it here: https://www.baptistpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Final-GCR-TR-Evaluation-May-13-2024.pdf
• The Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force made a report. The full report can be found at https://sbcabuseprevention.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/THE-ARITFS-2024-REPORT-RECOMMENDATIONS-.pdf. The task force focused on the following three areas over the past 10 months and reported progress in each of these three areas:
  • 1. Expansion of the Ministry Toolkit;
    2. Establishment of the Ministry Check website;
    3. Creation of a permanent home for abuse prevention and response. Their report was approved.
• The third task force to report was the Cooperation Group. Their report was approved. For more details of this report go to https://ia800305.us.archive.org/3/items/coop-group-draft-1/CoopGroupDraft1.pdf

Resolutions

The 2024 Southern Baptist Convention passed eight resolutions. Resolutions are non-binding, but they do express the will of the messengers of a particular convention on various subjects. Each of the following eight resolutions were affirmed by the messengers this year. You can read the resolutions in full by clicking on the link you wish to read:

• On Integrity in SBC Leadership (https://thebaptistpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1-On-Integrity-in-SBC-Leadership.pdf)
• On Defending Religious Liberty (https://thebaptistpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2-On-Defending-Religious-Liberty.pdf)
• On Just War and the Pursuit of Peace (https://thebaptistpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/3-On-Just-War-and-the-Pursuit-of-Peace.pdf)
• On Justice and Peace in the Aftermath of the October 7 Attack on Israel (https://thebaptistpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/4-On-Justice-and-Peace-in-the-Aftermath-of-the-October-7-Attack-on-Israel.pdf)
• On the Ethical Realities of Reproductive Technologies and the Dignity of the Human Embryo (https://thebaptistpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/6-On-the-Ethical-Realities-of-Reproductive-Technologies-and-the-Dignity-of-the-Human-Embryo.pdf)
• On the God-given Rights and Responsibilities of Parents (https://thebaptistpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/7-On-the-God-Given-Rights-and-Responsibilities-of-Parents.pdf)
• On Evangelism and the Great Commission (https://thebaptistpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/9-On-Evangelism-and-the-Great-Commission.pdf)
• On Appreciation for Indianapolis (https://thebaptistpaper.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/10-On-Appreciation-for-Indianapolis.pdf)