SBC meeting theme to spotlight ‘Neighborhood & Nations’
NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- "Jesus: to the Neighborhood and the Nations" is the theme for the Southern Baptist Convention's June 19–20 annual meeting in New Orleans, SBC President Bryant Wright has announced. Drawn from Luke 24:47-48, the theme is worded to convey the importance of dual missions at home and abroad, Wright said. "Sometimes people feel like it's either/or, that they must focus on those at home to the neglect of those in the uttermost parts," Wright said. "Sometimes people are so focused on the uttermost part that they neglect their own neighborhood, their own mission field. ... [QUOTE@left@180='We are to focus on [neighborhoods and the nations]. It is not either/or. It is both/and.' -- Bryant Wright]"[S]ome people think unless they are reaching their neighborhood first, they don't have the right to focus on going to the nations," Wright continued, noting: "This is a specifically-worded theme. Christ is clear. We are to focus on both. It is not either/or. It is both/and. "They ought to be our focus all the time." A radical reprioritization of Christ's Great Commission is Wright's prayer for the mission focus of the annual meeting, to be held at New Orleans' Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. "I'm praying this will be Spirit-led," Wright said, that there will be "a powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit as we focus on carrying out Christ's Great Commission in a unified spirit." Wright chose the passage from the book of Luke to expound on the disciple Luke's frequently quoted rendering of the Great Commission in Acts 1:8. "That's the beauty of the Gospels, to look at parallel teachings in different Gospels. It gives us a sense of freshness, an understanding of what Jesus is teaching us. Lord willing, I intend to preach on this expression of the Great Commission in my convention sermon," Wright said, referring to the president's address on Tuesday during the convention. "I think it just allows us to expound more on the very crisp, clear mission Jesus gives us in Acts 1:8." Wright, pastor of the Atlanta-area Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., will conclude his second one-year term as SBC president during the New Orleans annual meeting. --30-- Diana Chandler is a staff writer for Baptist Press.
Committee on Resolutions named for 2012 SBC
NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- SBC President Bryant Wright has named the members of the Committee on Resolutions who will serve during the June 19-20 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in New Orleans.
Crossover: Katrina labors have opened hearts
NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- In addition to jazz, beignets and the French Quarter, there's an added reason Southern Baptists may enjoy visiting New Orleans for Crossover 2012 -- the love they may sense from Crescent City residents.
Past opponent applauds ‘brilliant’ compromise
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee approved the "Great Commission Baptists" recommendation by the name change task force, and it did so with the vocal backing of a member who was a staunch opponent in September.
New Orleans pastor, Crosby, to nominate Luter
NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention by David E. Crosby, pastor of First Baptist Church in New Orleans. "Fred has been among Southern Baptists for more than 20 years as a pastor. He has taken a church that was at death's door to the largest worshipping congregation in the state of Louisiana among Southern Baptists," Crosby said.
