News Articles

SBC Worship platform draws thousands of churches in first month, leader says

Worship leaders Shane & Shane lead a packed house in worship during the final session of the 2025 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Dallas. The duo began Worship Initiative in 2014. A new collaboration between Worship Initiative and Southern Baptists was announced at the Pastors' Conference. Photo by Luc Stringer


DALLAS (BP) – SBC Worship, a new collaboration between The Worship Initiative and a broad swath of the Southern Baptist family, has attracted thousands of churches in its first month of operation at sbcworship.com, Robbie Seay told Baptist Press.

“It’s been great,” Seay, the Worship Initiative’s executive vice president of leader development and content, told Baptist Press. SBC Worship launched at the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference.

“We’ve had thousands of churches sign up,” he said. “We’ve got events scheduled. We’ve got webinars. We’re featuring the writings and the trainings from across SBC life. And it really is a unique collaboration of leaders.”

Organizers present SBC Worship as a platform of “trusted voices, training and resources from around the Southern Baptist Convention to enrich the lives and ministries of SBC worship leaders and their churches.”

Planning for SBC Worship began a couple of years ago, Seay said, focused on helping churches that lack resources to hire seminary-trained worship leaders and cover other worship-related expenses.

The initiative is steered by a 30-member SBC Worship Advisory Council including men and women from the five SBC seminaries that offer training in worship, the Send Network, three Baptist state conventions, various Southern Baptist supported universities, several local churches and other organizations.

SBC Worship is unrelated to Lifeway Christian Resources’ Lifeway Worship.

“We’ve extended an invitation to them, as have the seminary leaders and others, to be a part of this,” Seay said.

He called the initiative “the greatest collaboration in the area of worship as it pertains to leaders.”

“I think that’s the excitement about this is we have amazing leaders at our Baptist universities, amazing leaders at the state level, churches of every size, and this becomes a place where all of that is gathered and then all with the aim to resource these churches,” Seay told Baptist Press.

Becky Loyd, vice president of Lifeway’s Go-to-Market Strategy, said Lifeway will continue to offer its worship resource.

“We appreciate the spirit of The Worship Initiative in this endeavor and welcome them as kingdom partners in equipping worship leaders with training and events,” Loyd told Baptist Press July 7. “Lifeway Worship will continue to come alongside churches in their worship and music ministry and help meet the varied music and worship needs of churches of all types and sizes. In fact, we’re looking forward to launching some new resources in the coming year for worship leaders. Stay tuned!”

Lifeway had planned in 2023 to discontinue is worship arm but reversed course at the urging of church leaders.

The Christian music duo Shane & Shane founded The Worship Initiative in 2014 to help church worship leaders in ways similar to SBC Worship, and Seay said they are pleased to offer a concentration for Southern Baptists at no cost.

“This has been – most of their adult life – it’s been their work,” Seay said, “as they founded The Worship Initiative. Our aim is the local church. Our aim is the men and women who are leading worship. We exist to equip and encourage the local church. For Shane & Shane, this is just another way for them to love and to serve the church.”

A free account for SBC Worship is available to the Southern Baptist worship community at sbcworship.com featuring curated training, resources and events.

Premium training, features and programs will be offered for various costs, SBC Worship said in a press release.