2017 SBC Annual Meeting

So what? That's the question Rob Tims says he tries to answer right away when he leads a small group. Tims, a manager in groups ministry, and his colleagues at LifeWay Christian Resources led 18 drop-in training sessions to give practical skills and ideas to church leaders.

PHOENIX (BP) -- Where is God when bad things happen? An upcoming film says He is pursuing you in the midst of those trying times. Following two teenage brothers, Zach and Dave Truett, "Run the Race" poses tough questions and is meant to stir up conversations about faith, according to filmmakers Jake McEntire and Trey Brunson.

PHOENIX (BP) -- Midwestern Seminary hosted "For the Church Phoenix," its third in an annual series of micro-conferences, at the Phoenix Convention Center during the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. The event featured leaders from across the SBC presenting on featured topics in a seven-minute TED Talk-like format. "Our aim at For the Church Phoenix was to give attendees the very best encouragement and instruction that Midwestern Seminary could possibly provide through these brief presentations," Midwestern president Jason Allen said during the June 13 event. "Existing for the church is what this school stands for, and our desire is that everyone has departed here more edified to carry out their ministries."

PHOENIX (BP) -- With messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix pledging to pray for matters ranging from evangelism to racial reconciliation, SBC President Steve Gaines has called Southern Baptists to intercede "more fervently and frequently than ever before." Gathered around the theme "Pray! For such a time as this," messengers to the June 13-14 annual meeting urged prayer or committed to ask God for specific requests in at least five separate resolutions. In addition, annual meeting attendees received specific prayer requests from the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board.

PHOENIX (BP) -- How many missionaries could be sent from just a fraction of all Southern Baptist churches today? At the International Mission Board dinner June 12 in Phoenix, IMB President David Platt and the crowd of approximately 1,350 Southern Baptists estimated that their congregations, right now, have a combined potential of 28,551 missionaries. Those in attendance compiled the number of students, singles, husbands, wives, moms, dads, kids and grandparents in their churches who might take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the billions of people who have yet to hear it.

PHOENIX (BP) -- A standing-room-only crowd gathered for a discussion about the essential role of Bible reading in the process of discipleship during the LifeWay Christian Resources breakfast held in conjunction with the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. The event, titled "Discipleship Through the Word," began with Christian music artists Keith and Kristyn Getty leading the audience in worship, including their classic modern hymn "In Christ Alone."

Increasing international evangelism and diversity were the focus of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists when it gathered in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix.

A 12-member study group is expected to recommend in 2018 a new title, credentialing process and expectations of effectiveness for Southern Baptist directors of missions (DOMs).

PHOENIX (BP) -- Prayer and soul-winning evangelism are highlighted in a brief video recapping the spiritual emphases of the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Phoenix. Impassioned pleas with outstretched hands and heads bowed before God, high praise, brief interviews and video captions of Southern Baptist leaders and members comprise the video capturing the June 13-14 meeting and its preliminary events in Phoenix and surrounding suburbs. The SBC's growing diversity in leadership is captured in African American and Hispanic pastors and officers.

PHOENIX (BP) -- Pastors and entity leaders discussed church unity in a divisive age and the statistical decline of the denomination during two 9Marks conversations held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Phoenix. 9Marks, a church health ministry based in Washington, D.C., sponsored the late-evening panel discussions in partnership with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission June 12 and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary June 13.