2008 SBC Annual Meeting News

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting were reminded of the importance of theological education via reports from the SBC’s six seminaries during the June 10-11 sessions in Indianapolis. Summaries of the seminaries’ reports follow: GOLDEN GATE — Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary is the Southern Baptist outpost in the West, Jeff Iorg, […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Thunder claps resounding in downtown Indianapolis and thunderstorm predictions buffeted plans for GuideStone Financial Resources’ Wellness Walk, held annually in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention. With nearly 600 messengers and family members signed up for the walk, GuideStone decided Monday evening that wellness would best be practiced by promoting safety and canceling the […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–O.S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources, delivered the entity’s 90th annual report at the Southern Baptist Convention June 11. “This is our 90th birthday in serving Southern Baptists,” Hawkins said. “Ninety years ago, at this convention in 1918, our founder, Dr. William Lunsford, stood here and shared a vision of what has now […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–The prayer emphasis at this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting was embraced by a number of pastors in the Indianapolis area long before the first messenger arrived. As pastors who have seen firsthand the power that is unleashed when people make prayer a priority, they could only imagine its potential for the SBC. […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Southern Baptists attending their annual convention June 10-11 in Indianapolis heard three “challenge” sermons highlighting cooperation, prayer and the importance of balancing grace and truth. Preaching the sermons were David S. Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn.; Rob Blackaby, president of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Alberta, Canada; and Leo Endel, […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--More than 90 percent of the newly elected trustees of Southern Baptist Convention entities have not served on an SBC board before.

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--Messengers to the 2008 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting passed resolutions in the June 11 evening session supporting a California initiative to repudiate same-sex "marriage" and urging government defunding of Planned Parenthood, the country's leading abortion provider.

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--Johnny Hunt, a pastor from Woodstock, Ga., was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention on the first ballot, leading a slate of officers that included two new vice presidents and two re-elected secretaries.

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--We must challenge the next generation of Southern Baptists to "go tell the story of Jesus," Jerry Rankin told messengers June 11 at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis.       Speaking to several thousand messengers and guests, the president of the International Mission Board urged Southern Baptist leaders to "fulfill the mission" by passing on the missions torch.       "What about the next generation?" Rankin asked. "Will we nurture in our children and grandchildren God's heart for missions, or will they simply emulate the self-centered indifference of our generation?       "We are seeing God stir in the children, young people and students of today a passion for missions and [a desire] to make a difference in our world," he said.       Messengers watched a video of a vision trip into the Peruvian Amazon that Rankin made with his 12-year-old grandson Zachary. The pair spent time visiting with Xtreme Team missionaries who worked among a remote tribe known as the Yaminahua.       "I wouldn't be surprised if this [trip leaves] a lingering impression that has something to do with God's call on his life," Rankin said shortly before introducing Zachary on the convention's stage.       Rankin also introduced messengers to 25-year-old Bobby Lane, one of the Xtreme Team members who guided them through the Amazon. Lane talked about his own call to the mission field.       "God has a role for all of us. It took me a little while to figure this out, but God finally showed me that I'm not here for me ..."

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Floods and rain did not deter Hispanic leaders and pastors from around the United States from celebrating new life in Christ June 8 when the National Fellowship of Hispanic Churches of the Southern Baptist Convention held its annual business meeting in Indianapolis. Representatives from Florida, Texas, California, Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, New York and Louisiana […]