2008 SBC Annual Meeting News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–The research files of the first key chronicler of the Southern Baptist Convention’s conservative resurgence have found a home at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. The James and Marti Hefley Papers, which contain interview notes, correspondence and firsthand documentation of the leftward turn in SBC entities during the mid-20th century, have […]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–James Hefley, the first key chronicler of the Southern Baptist Convention’s conservative resurgence, played a major part in inspiring Joni Hannigan to pursue Christian journalism, Hannigan said in placing Hefley’s papers at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Hannigan, managing editor of the Florida Baptist Witness since 2002, donated dozens of boxes […]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--In San Antonio in 1988 I stood awestruck at the reception table fronting the Baptist Press newsroom at the Southern Baptist Convention.

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Messengers to the 2008 Southern Baptist Convention passed six resolutions in the June 11 morning session, including one urging the maintenance of a “regenerate membership” and the restoration of “wayward members” by churches. Three resolutions remained to be considered during the evening session. The time for the Resolutions Committee’s morning report expired before it […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–Biblical standards for church membership, accountability for living like disciples of Jesus and trying to restore members who have dropped out of church life were the focus of a resolution adopted June 11 by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in the Indiana Convention Center. As presented by the 10-member resolutions committee, […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–The Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting will convene in Nashville, Tenn., in 2013 and 2019 and in Baltimore, Md., in 2014, according to recommendations approved by messengers June 10 in Indianapolis. Convention manager R. Clark Logan Jr. said Nashville was recommended because Baptist history has been uniquely intertwined with the city from the early […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–David Dykes, pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, is this year’s recipient of the M.E. Dodd Cooperative Program Award for his distinguished support of Southern Baptists’ unified giving plan. The award, a bronze sculpture of a farmer sowing the seed of the Word of God, was presented June 10 as part […]

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--The Southern Baptist Convention may be facing a "death check" but the convention can overcome its illness by refocusing on being servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries, Al Gilbert, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., told messengers June 11 at the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis.       Gilbert, who was diagnosed in 2005 with a rare cancer called liposarcoma, began the annual convention message by recalling the grim cancer diagnosis. Told initially he would survive only five years, Gilbert subsequently visited specialists whose tests resulted in a better prognosis and surgery to remove the cancer.       The situation turned out to be "life-altering, but not life-threatening," Gilbert said.       "I'm happy to report that in the days of that death check, I went to the bottom and found that it was solid. God was there," Gilbert said. "But during those times of consideration, I asked myself those questions that we all need to ask, things like, 'Am I really dead to self and alive to Christ? Can I really say that to live is Christ and to die is gain? What difference has my life made and has it really mattered? What will be said about me when I am dead and gone? What will my wife think? Did I spend too much time at the church? Did my life make any difference at all?'"       In reality, the "death check" was a good thing, Gilbert said, adding that a similar kind of inventory would be good for the Southern Baptist Convention. "Denominational doctors" have provided a grim prognosis for Southern Baptists, but others, like Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., insist the convention is far from dead, Gilbert said. It may, however, be "top-heavy," "bloated and unfocused."       Southern Baptists must examine themselves to answer questions about the convention's priorities, Gilbert said.       "Soon, we will be passing the baton to the next generation, and I don't know about you, but they tell me they are not sure they want it," Gilbert said. "That should make us sad and that should make us ask how we want to hand it off ..."

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--Geoff Hammond, president of the North American Mission Board, unveiled that National Evangelism Initiative to messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention June 10 in Indianapolis.

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--The priorities Johnny Hunt announced for his tenure as president of the Southern Baptist Convention are the same ones that have characterized his 32 years as a local church pastor -- evangelism, discipleship and missions.