2016 SBC Annual Meeting

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- In 1979, Bill Sumners visited Nashville for a meeting of the Society of American Archivists and paid a visit to Southern Baptists' denominational archives while he was in town. As he stood in the Baptist Sunday School Board's Dargan-Carver Library, the precursor to today's Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, he remembers thinking, "This is really where I want to be" professionally. There was no job opening at the time. But eventually his dream was fulfilled.

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- The election of Steve Gaines as president on the third ballot and a historic repudiation of the Confederate battle flag were among the highlights of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 14-15 in St. Louis. The convention's resolution on the Confederate battle flag capped an emphasis on racial reconciliation throughout the meeting that included the election of a 2017 Committee on Nominations with 25 percent of its members drawn from ethnic minority groups and a panel discussion on "racial unity in America" featuring Jerry Young, president of the historically African American National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- Russell Moore offered a ringing defense of religious freedom for all, including Muslims, during the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's report Wednesday (June 15) to the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention. When questioned by a messenger how a Southern Baptist could defend the right of Muslims to build mosques, the ERLC's president said it was not a difficult decision.

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- Ted Traylor challenged Southern Baptists to move forward in cooperation and unity for the sake of the Gospel -- reflecting the preceding historic moment when Steve Gaines became SBC president with gracious consent from fellow nominee J.D. Greear. Traylor, in the annual convention sermon June 15 in St. Louis, drew from Psalm 133 to poignantly repeat the words of the psalmist David in the first verse of the passage: "How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity."

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- Highlighting the partnership between Southern Baptists across North America and around the world to spread the Gospel and plant churches, the Southern Baptist Convention's two mission entities held a "Sending Celebration" at the conclusion of the SBC's annual meeting Wednesday (June 15) in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- For more than 170 years, God has blessed the International Mission Board for the spread of the Gospel among the nations -- and by God's grace, 170 years later, the IMB is "standing strong," IMB President David Platt reported to Southern Baptist Convention messengers June 15. "I am confident that not every one of [those years] has been easy," Platt said. "But that's the beauty of Proverbs 3:5-6. As Southern Baptists have trusted in God, as Southern Baptists have acknowledged Him year after year, God has made our paths straight for the spread of His glory among the nations."

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- Addressing Southern Baptist messengers during their annual meeting in St. Louis, North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell asked them and himself -- "Is it working?" Ezell's question referred to the overall strategy and direction of the mission board. "NAMB's primary reason for existence is to help Southern Baptists reach North America for Christ," Ezell said Wednesday (June 15). "That is the mission that runs through everything that we do." Ezell thanked messengers for faithfully giving to the Cooperative Program and Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

ST. LOUIS (BP) –- Presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention's six seminaries noted growth in ministry, enrollment and financial support in their reports to messengers June 15 at the SBC annual meeting in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- Wanda S. Lee, executive director of national WMU, thanked Southern Baptists for partnering through missions education to equip the next generation of missionaries, an endeavor she described as more critical than ever before in an increasingly postmodern world. Lee noted to messengers June 15 at the SBC annual meeting: "It is our desire to partner with every Southern Baptist church in discipling preschoolers, children, youth and adults by engaging them in meaningful missions involvement right in their own communities or on the other side of the world; to support those who go to the nations for a lifetime with our praying and giving; and to accept the mandate of the Great Commission in whatever way God calls us."

ST. LOUIS (BP) -- GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins relayed the entity's 98th report to messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday, June 14. Citing GuideStone's upcoming centennial in 2018, which will be celebrated with messengers convening in Dallas, Hawkins noted GuideStone's uniqueness among the convention's boards. "Most all of the entities in Southern Baptist life focus on the message of the Gospel," Hawkins said. "We're the only entity in Southern Baptist life that has a primary focus on the messenger of the Gospel."