[1]NEW ORLEANS (BP) – A lineup of speakers and guests on the Cooperative Program Stage will point attention toward what should be at the heart of all Southern Baptists.
That platform, said Interim Executive Committee President and CEO Willie McLaurin, will “provide an opportunity for messengers at the SBC annual meeting to hear relevant conversations on how the Great Commandment and the Great Commission are advanced.”
The CP Stage will open at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 11, with the topic of mobilization alongside representatives from the International Mission Board. The earlier starting time is in conjunction with the largest annual meeting exhibit hall in recent history [2].
Various panels highlight Monday’s schedule, continuing into Tuesday and Wednesday.
From 9:50-10:20 a.m., a conversation over “Calling Out the Called” will take place among panelists Ginger Bowman of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; Paul Worcester, national collegiate director for the North American Mission Board; Shane Pruitt, NAMB National Next Gen director; Steve Masters, LSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry director; and Ryan Scantling, University of Arkansas BCM director.
Chad Stillwell, Collegiate Ministry coordinator for the South Carolina Baptist Convention and president of Baptist Collegiate State Directors, will be the moderator.
[3]From 11:10-11:40 a.m., Kie Bowman, senior pastor emeritus of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, who is helping the SBC Executive Committee coordinate a national prayer strategy [4], will moderate a discussion on “The Role of Prayer in the Asbury Awakening.” Bill Elliff, founding and national engage pastor of the Summit Church in North Little Rock, Ark., and Timothy K. Beougher, associate dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, will be among the panelists.
Other speakers and panelists at the CP Stage will include Marshall Blalock, co-chair of the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force; Fred Luter, senior pastor at Franklin Avenue Baptist in New Orleans and IMB President Paul Chitwood.
“The 2023 Cooperative Program stage has been designed to put a laser sharp focus on topics like prayer, stewardship, sexual abuse awareness, church planting and missions mobilization,” McLaurin said. “The platform participants will provide relevant and usable information that will assist pastors and churches in advancing the Great Commission.
“I am thrilled that this year’s Cooperative Program panel discussions will speak to every messenger, every church and every community.”