NC Baptists launch new missions effort, send missionaries
By Chad Austin/Biblical Recorder
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The 2025 N.C. Baptist annual meeting began with missionaries standing before attendees ready to be sent to the nations. It ended with those same attendees on their knees, praying for the next generation who will one day join in carrying the Gospel forward.
In between those moments, worship and business blended into a shared vision of living out the meeting’s theme of “On Mission Together” as N.C. Baptists launched a new missions engagement initiative, celebrated sending 22 missionaries from local churches, emphasized reaching the next generation and prayed for God’s favor for work still to come, echoing the event’s supporting verse of Psalm 90:17.
The two-day meeting, held Nov. 10-11 at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center, drew 2,039 attendees — 1,595 messengers and 444 guests — which marked the highest total in 16 years when 2,055 people attended the 2009 meeting.
Messengers also approved a $30 million Cooperative Program budget for 2026, reelected the full slate of state convention officers, and heard messages, ministry reports and more during the meeting, which was the 195th annual gathering in Baptist State Convention of North Carolina history.
Missions engagement & Sending Celebration
During the event’s opening session, N.C. Baptist Executive Director-Treasurer Todd Unzicker unveiled a new missions engagement initiative aimed at helping churches live out the Great Commission. The initiative is built around a fourfold framework of strategizing, mobilizing, caring and connecting.
“Our vision is simple, but it’s bold, and it’s going to take all of us being on mission together,” Unzicker said.
Unzicker’s address preceded an N.C. Baptist Sending Celebration in which 22 missionaries representing 10 churches from across the state were recognized and given the opportunity to share about their ministry assignment and prayer requests. Attendees concluded the opening session by praying over the missionaries, many of whom will be serving in hard-to-reach locations where access to the Gospel is limited.
“This is what it means to be on mission together,” said state convention President Allen Murray, pastor of Mount PIsgah Baptist Church in Supply, N.C., before leading attendees in prayer over the missionaries to conclude the meeting’s opening session Monday night.
Officers reelected
Murray was one of the three state convention officers who were reelected to second terms of service in 2026.
In addition to Murray being reelected president, Steven Wade, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, N.C., and professor of pastoral theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, was reelected as first vice president, and Matt Capps, lead pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Apex, N.C., was reelected as second vice president.
All three officers ran unopposed.
$30M budget approved
Messengers adopted a 2026 Cooperative Program (CP) budget totaling $30 million, which is $1 million less than the 2025 budget. The budget maintains a 50/50 split between N.C. Baptist ministries and global ministry partners.
Messengers also approved a motion stipulating that undesignated CP receipts in excess of the $30 million budget in 2026 be allocated equally between N.C. Baptists’ life initiative and mission engagement activities.
Convention sermon
Shane Pruitt, national next-gen director for the North American Mission Board, closed out the meeting by delivering the annual convention sermon. Pruitt preached on spiritual awakening and the next generation, sharing four markers of a genuine move of God from Acts 5:27-42. He said one can know God is moving when obedience is the priority, the gospel is being proclaimed, there is an awareness of kingdom victory and there is mission without fear.
At the conclusion of his message, Pruitt invited attendees to gather around the stage to kneel and pray for the next generation.
“We need to help young people realize that Jesus is the best, and there is none like Him,” Pruitt said.
Next year’s meeting
Next year’s N.C. Baptist annual meeting will be held Nov. 16-17, 2026, at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, N.C. Messengers voted to approve Trevin Wax, vice president of research and resource development with the North American Mission Board, to deliver the 2026 convention sermon.
Read the full story here. Read additional coverage of the BSCNC meeting at brnow.org.
Ohio Baptists celebrate God’s work across their state
By Stephanie Heading/ Ohio Baptist Messenger
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – An unseasonable snowstorm and bitter cold did not deter Ohio Baptists from celebrating the work of God across the state as they gathered at Life Point Church, Mount Vernon, for the 72nd Annual Celebration of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio (SCBO), Nov. 10-11.
“What a wonderfully blessed year we have enjoyed from the Lord in the Buckeye State,” said SCBO Executive Director Jeremy Westbrook.
Cooperative Program giving is up over the same time period last year, and has risen year by year since 2022, increasing $350,000. Baptisms increased 121 percent in four years, from 1,735 baptisms in 2021 to 3,855 baptisms in 2024. Church planting and revitalization continue strong with 23 new church plants, two church revitalizations, and four new affiliations this year.
SCBO also joined the yearlong celebration of the Cooperative Program’s 100th anniversary through its CP100 video series. Buzz Kocher, SCBO director of strategic initiatives, visited each of Ohio’s six regions, interviewing pastors, church planters, and missionaries to ask them why they support the Cooperative Program.
“It is CP that helps us in accomplishing the Great Commission,” Kocher said. “We are proud to be Southern Baptist, and we are not alone.”
The 244 messengers and guests also honored the historic cooperation between the IMB and Ohio African American pastors in 2025 – the first Ohio African American mission team to travel to Uganda. Members of the team took the stage to share what God had done during their time abroad.
Quintell Hill, IMB African American church mobilization strategist, thanked SCBO for its “clarity of course” in supporting this groundbreaking mission team.
“It started because Ohio Baptists said ‘yes,’” Hill said. “I am overjoyed by what God is doing in this state. Because of their obedience, other pastors have committed to go.”
Westbrook exhorted listeners during his Annual Report, “The Convention That God Blesses.”
“Nine out of every ten people in Ohio do not know Christ as Savior,” he said. “God is working in the state, but there is so much to do.”
From Mark 2:1-12, Westbrook shared the six characteristics of a convention that the Lord blesses: Jesus is central, the word of God is the authority, the sick and hurt are welcomed and brought, faith is demonstrated, negative attitudes are discouraged, and all glory goes to God.
“Stay focused on preaching the word of God. Proclaim the word of God,” he said. “Make disciples across the street and around the world.”
In the business session, messengers approved the 2025-2026 budget of $4,890,480, up 1 percent from last year, while Ohio remains a 50/50 CP state. The budget increased funding for 13 line items and also included one new item.
“IMB Pastoral Scholarships is a new initiative between IMB and SCBO to offer financial assistance for pastors who have never been on an overseas mission trip to go for the first time,” Westbrook said.
The newly-elected 2026 officers are President Dave Welsch, pastor, First Baptist Church, Heath; First Vice President Karlie Hale, pastor One Love Community Church, Cleveland; Second Vice President Austin Mathis, pastor, Grace Church, Harrison; Recording Secretary Charity Betts, First Baptist Church, New Lebanon; and Assistant Recording Secretary Kay Arnold, First Baptist Church, Lancaster.
The 2026 SCBO Pastor’s Conference and Annual Meeting is set for Nov. 9-10, 2026, at First Baptist Church, Kettering, and will include an IMB Sending Ceremony.
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