2014: State Annual Meeting Roundup

WACO, Texas (BP) -- Texas Baptists elected what a news release called "the most diverse officer panel in the 129-year history" of the Baptist General Convention of Texas during their annual meeting Nov. 16-18 at the Waco Convention Center.

JACKSON, Miss. (BP) -- Mississippi Baptists made history by electing the first African American to serve as a convention officer during the Mississippi Baptist Convention's annual meeting at First Baptist Church in Jackson.

SALEM, Ore. (BP) -- The Northwest Baptist Convention celebrated paying off the debt to its headquarters and marked a new East Asian partnership with the International Mission Board at the convention's 2014 annual meeting in Salem, Ore.

RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- At its 191st annual meeting, the Baptist General Association of Virginia approved what many of those involved may be calling the most significant shift in its governance in nearly 100 years by voting on changes to its constitution/bylaws. The 1,400-church organization is seeking to become more strategic in a more timely and efficient manner while maintaining effective representation from its diverse members.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (BP) -- Arizona Southern Baptists took a step toward fulfilling their Centennial Vision by increasing their Cooperative Program support of Southern Baptist Convention causes by 1.45 percentage points at their Nov. 14 annual meeting.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (BP) -- South Carolina Baptists passed resolutions addressing an array of societal ills and challenges facing the church at their 194th annual meeting, affirming biblical marriage, the protection of victims of abuse and neglect, and religious freedom at home and abroad.

CROSS LANES, W.Va. (BP) -- West Virginia Baptists adopted a resolution supporting traditional marriage and honored retiring executive director Terry Harper during the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists annual meeting in Cross Lanes.

CHELMSFORD, Mass. (BP) -- New England Baptists celebrated a 17 percent increase in baptisms since 2012 and honored retiring executive director Jim Wideman during the Baptist Convention of New England's annual meeting Nov. 14-15 in Chelmsford, Mass.

SEVERN, Md. (BP) -- The Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware will now be known as the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network, reflecting the cooperation of churches in states beyond Maryland and Delaware. Messengers affirmed the new "doing business as" name during the Nov. 9-11 BCMD annual meeting at The Church at Severn Run in Severn, Md.

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (BP) -- One of the loudest cheers of affirmation at the 2014 SBC of Virginia Annual Homecoming was heard after a resolution on biblical marriage was read to the messengers and guests.