[1]EDITOR’S NOTE: Ronnie Floyd is president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of the multi-campus Cross Church in northwest Arkansas.
SPRINGDALE, Ark. (BP) — One of my responsibilities as president of the Southern Baptist Convention is to appoint a Committee on Resolutions for our upcoming annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. This very important and strategic committee works diligently between now and when they give their report to our convention on Tuesday afternoon, June 16. In fact, they arrive in Columbus the week before the convention, ready to work daily until they accomplish their task.
It is my privilege to announce that Steve Gaines will serve as chairman of our 2015 Committee on Resolutions. Dr. Gaines serves as senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn. He is one of our great preachers in the SBC family. Dr. Gaines has a Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. We have asked Matthew Hall to serve as our vice chairman of this committee. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky and serves as the vice president for academic services at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have complete confidence in both of these men and know they will serve us in the highest manner.
With this introduction, our Committee on Resolutions for the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention will be:
— Steve Gaines, senior pastor, Bellevue Baptist, Cordova, Tenn.
— Matthew Hall, vice president for academic services, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.; member, Clifton Baptist Church, Louisville.
[2]— Stephen Rummage, pastor, Bell Shoals Baptist, Brandon, Fla.
— Rolland Slade, pastor, Meridian Southern Baptist, El Cajon, Calif.
— Jay Shell, attorney, Batesville, Ark.; member, West Baptist Church, Batesville.
— Steven Lee, lead pastor, Redeemer City Church, Washington, D.C.
— Berta Delgado-Young, communications editor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas.
— Kathy Litton, pastor’s wife and leader of ministry to pastors’ wives for the North American Mission Board; member, First Baptist North Mobile, Saraland, Ala.
— Jason Duesing, provost, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.; Antioch Bible Baptist Church, Gladstone, Mo. (membership in process due to ministry relocation to Kansas City from Fort Worth, Texas, where his formal membership is still at the Travis Avenue Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas.)
— Dr. Eric Geiger, vice president, Lifeway Resources Division, Nashville, Tenn.; teaching pastor, New Vision Baptist Church, Murfreesboro.
We have worked very diligently to put together a well-balanced, gifted committee that will represent our convention in the highest manner.
The Process for Submitting Resolutions
The procedure for submitting resolutions is as follows according to Bylaw 20:
— Proposed resolutions may be submitted as early as April 15 but no later than 15 days prior to the SBC annual meeting, giving the Committee on Resolutions a two-week period in which to consider submissions. This year’s cut-off date is June 1. Resolutions may not be submitted during the annual meeting.
— Proposed resolutions preferably should be submitted by email through the resolutions submission page at SBC.net/resolutions/submit; or they may be mailed to the Committee on Resolutions in care of the SBC Executive Committee, 901 Commerce St., Nashville, TN 37203. Proposed resolutions must be typewritten, titled, dated and include complete contact information for the person and his or her church. The web page will go live on April 15.
— Proposed resolutions must be accompanied by a Credentials for Resolutions Submittal form (downloadable from the resolutions submission web page), or by a letter on church letterhead, either of which must be signed by the pastor or other church officer from a church qualified to send a messenger to the SBC annual meeting certifying that the individual submitting the resolution is a member in good standing.
— No person will be allowed to submit more than three resolutions per year.
— The Committee on Resolutions submits to the Convention only those resolutions the committee recommends for adoption. Such resolutions may be based upon proposals received by the committee or may originate with the committee.
— If a properly submitted resolution is not presented by the Committee on Resolutions to the messengers at the SBC annual meeting, a two-thirds vote is required to bring the proposed resolution to the convention floor for consideration.
Please pray for these ten persons who will be serving our convention for this important purpose. Additionally, pray daily for our upcoming meeting in Columbus. Please see the 2015 Highlights [3] so you can pray more specifically.
Registration is now open for our convention meeting. Your church can register its messengers here [4]. All Southern Baptists can attend this meeting; however, only registered messengers have voting privileges. If your church’s slate of messengers is complete, don’t let that keep you from attending. It is our desire to have as many of our Southern Baptist family present as possible.