- Baptist Press - https://www.baptistpress.com -

SBC DIGEST: ‘Road to New Orleans’ dives deep into annual meeting sessions; MBC search team accepting names for executive director

[1]

SBC ’23 schedule the focus of ‘Road to New Orleans’

By BP Staff

Spence Shelton, chair of the 2023 SBC Committee on Order of Business and pastor of Mercy Church in Charlotte, N.C., joined Jonathan Howe, vice president for communications with the SBC Executive Committee, for a conversation about the program and the business under consideration at the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans, June 13-14. The discussion was the latest installment of The Road to New Orleans [2], a video series leading up to the annual meeting.

The video conversation, as will the meeting, kicked off talking about the Mission Sending Celebration, which comes early in the program Tuesday morning, June 13.

“For Southern Baptists, we are at our best when we are sending,” Shelton said. “… What better tone to set for our two days together than what we’re about, down in the heart. …”

Also scheduled for Tuesday morning are reports from the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board and SBC President Bart Barber’s address.

[3]

The schedule includes longer lunch times than usual due to allow time for messengers to attend various ancillary events.

The two also talk about key moments to watch for important SBC business, including the Abuse Response and Implementation Task Force’s report Tuesday afternoon.

Spence urges Southern Baptists to plan to attend and even pray over the sessions in advance.

“Decisions are made by those who show up, but also, culture is set by those who show up,” he said. “… Younger pastors and future missionaries are all watching, their coming to participate, but they’re also watching. … How we do what we do matters.”


MBC executive director search committee accepting nominations through May

By Missouri Baptist Convention Staff

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)Throughout the month of May, the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Executive Director Search Committee is taking recommendations for potential candidates to serve as the MBC’s next executive director. Recommendations can be made online here [4].

Search committee chairman Wesley Vance explains the committee’s search process in a video here [5].

After 12 years of service with the MBC, Executive Director John Yeats asked the MBC executive board in early March to form a transition team [6] to search for his successor. Serving alongside his wife, Sharon, Yeats began ministry among Missouri Baptists after being elected to his MBC post on Oct. 13, 2011. Before coming to Missouri, Yeats served as director of communications and public policy for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Earlier, he served as editor of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger. He also served the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana as the director of communications and editor of the Indiana Baptist. Prior to his ministry with state conventions, he served 20 years as pastor of churches in Texas and Kansas. He also served as the Southern Baptist Convention’s Recording Secretary for 25 years. His tenure in this post was the third-longest in Southern Baptist history.