2015 SBC Annual Meeting

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Southern Baptists must remain resolute in the challenges of sexuality and gender while facing denominational decline and contend for religious liberty, panelists said during the Baptist21 luncheon in Columbus, Ohio. More than 1,000 people attended the sold-out event in the Greater Columbus Convention Center during the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting. Jedidiah Coppenger, co-founder of Baptist21 and lead pastor of Redemption City Church in Franklin, Tenn., moderated the panel, which featured R. Albert Mohler Jr., Daniel Akin, Russell Moore; David Platt; and H.B. Charles Jr.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Kelvin Cochran was living his boyhood dream. He had a good income. He was married, the proud father of three adult children, and a grandfather. And, the clincher, he was a fireman. But since being fired from his job as chief of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department in January, his dream has turned into a series of legal battles. Cochran shared his story, and told of the faith that undergirds him through trails, at a Cooperative Program forum June 15 in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Nate Adams, executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association, hosted the discussion.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Church planting among Asian groups, international missions to Asian peoples and increased Asian cooperation with the larger Southern Baptist family are among the prominent themes in the Asian Advisory Council report presented to Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Frank S. Page June 15 in Columbus, Ohio.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- The young married woman who came to Goodale Park in downtown Columbus to take a selfie to announce her pregnancy found something else to celebrate when she chose to follow Jesus Christ. Kay Cox, wife of evangelist Tom Cox, noticed the woman, offered to take her photo, and struck up a conversation that led to the woman's profession in faith.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Among the Southern Baptist Convention entity trustees elected June 16 at the SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, were 11 added to the Committee on Nominations report following its initial release May 1.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- The Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship of North America announced a new outreach initiative dubbed "20/20" during their annual gathering held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention's meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- A church plant in Oklahoma City has taken on the responsibility of starting a church in Tucson, Ariz., both in a Native American context. "We promote the work of the Southern Baptist Convention," said Emerson Falls, pastor of Circle of Life in Oklahoma City and president of the Fellowship of Native American Christians, which meets each year in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention.

COLUMBUS (BP) -- Alumni awards, reflections on missions and U.S. culture and reports of progress in seminary education highlighted June 17 during luncheons for alumni and friends of Southern Baptist seminaries at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

COLUMBUS (BP) -- Angie Smith told more than 1,000 ministers' wives how much she had dreaded to speak at this year's Ministers' Wives Luncheon, held during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus, June 16. To explain, she pointed to her first experience with Christians as a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University. Not yet a Christian, she had been invited to a Bible study -- "whatever that was!" -- by fellow students who instructed her to go to the LifeWay bookstore to buy her Bible study book.

President Ronnie Floyd recaps 10 highlights from last week's Southern Baptist Convention in Columbus, Ohio. "My heart is overflowing with gratitude to our great God for meeting with us in Columbus in a powerful manner," Floyd writes. "People came with great expectation and prayerfully returned to their churches resounding with great hope."