2016 State Annual Meeting Roundup

WACO, Texas (BP) -- The Baptist General Convention of Texas' 131st annual meeting focused on "Celebrating Service" through worship and business sessions, workshops and a variety of events, with 1,157 messengers and 663 visitors in attendance Nov. 13-15 in Waco. Messengers approved a 2017 budget of $36.64 million for funding ministries, missions and BGCT institutional partnerships, compared to the 2016 budget of $37.99 million.

BROADVIEW, Ill. (BP) -- Messengers to the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Baptist State Association voted to increase the state's Cooperative Program giving to national causes, met missionaries coming off the international field who have joined the state staff, and welcomed 10 new churches to the association. The meeting, held Nov. 2-3 at Broadview Missionary Baptist Church in a western suburb of Chicago, also challenged Illinois Baptists and their churches to embrace the call to take the Gospel across cultures.

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (BP) -- With a theme of "Thy Kingdom Come," messengers to the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention considered how God can use them and their churches to expand His Kingdom on earth, and they voted to increase Cooperative Program giving. The multiethnic convention met in the just completed facilities of the Minneapolis-area Ebenezer Community Church, a Liberian congregation in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Frank S. Page, president of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, told them that 23 percent of SBC churches "self-identify" as ethnic congregations. ...

CLEARWATER, Fla. (BP) -- Messengers attending the 2016 Florida Baptist State Convention elected Brandon pastor Stephen Rummage as president and approved a $30 million Cooperative Program budget for 2017 that continues to send 51 percent to the Southern Baptist Convention while retaining 49 percent for missions and ministries in the state. The meeting, held Nov. 14-15 at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, focused on the theme: "Gathering to Exhort, Stir Up and Send Out."

DES MOINES, Iowa (BP) -- Iowa Baptists affirmed their continuing commitment to forward 50 percent of their anticipated Cooperative Program receipts to Southern Baptist Convention causes and pledged $100,000 to help those among the most vulnerable in the state. A total of 142 messengers from 57 churches from across Iowa met on Nov. 5 for the 21st annual meeting of the Baptist Convention of Iowa (BCI) at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Des Moines, Iowa. Pastor Darin Ulmer and his wife Sarah of Community Baptist Church of Marion provided worship music throughout the meeting.

HUDSON, Mass. (BP) -- "We've all got to set aside our differences for the sake of the Gospel." The words spoken by Terry Dorsett, executive director of the Baptist Convention of New England, at the BCNE annual meeting reflected New England Baptists' diversity: Forty percent of the convention's 376 churches worship in a language other than English.

TAOS, N.M. (BP) -- Messengers to the Baptist Convention of New Mexico increased the percentage of Cooperative Program receipts they will forward to the Southern Baptist Convention for the second year in a row and adopted the Baptist Faith and Message as their statement of faith. Gathering Oct. 25-26 at the Sagebrush Inn and Conference Center in Taos, N.M., 288 messengers and 92 visitors represented 99 of the convention's 335 cooperating churches.

RIVERTON, Wyo. (BP) -- The 33rd annual meeting of the Wyoming Southern Baptist Convention was a time of celebration and shared commitment to the continuation of God's work in Wyoming and around the world, Executive Director Lynn Nikkel told Baptist Press. With "Trusting the Lord" as its theme, based on Proverbs 3:5, the Nov. 3-4 event at United Baptist Church in Riverton brought together 114 registered messengers from 40 Wyoming churches, out of the state convention's 106 churches and church-type missions. More than 180 people attended the Thursday evening session.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (BP) -- Missouri Baptists urged believers to active Christian citizenship and defending biblical views of the sanctity of life and transgenderism during their 182nd annual meeting. A total of 861 messengers and 195 guests from 366 churches gathered Oct. 24-26 at the St. Charles Convention Center, where Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director John Yeats reminded them that they need never be alone. Inspired by the theme of the meeting, "Never Alone," he encouraged them with Christ's words, "I am with you always" (Matt. 28:20), but he also urged them to "belong to a team" that is on a mission.

JACKSON, Miss. (BP) -- Messengers from among the 2,200 Mississippi Baptist Convention (MBC) member churches unanimously approved adoption of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message as the doctrinal guidelines for the convention, during the 181st annual meeting of the convention at First Baptist Church, Jackson, Nov. 1-2. Messengers also elected without opposition Doug Broome, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Natchez, to a second term as MBC president. He was nominated by Ronnie Falvey, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Madison.