ORLANDO (BP) – Southern Baptists gathered at the annual meeting to elect a new president, take actions that will shape the SBC in years to come and celebrate more than 1,000 salvations through Crossover alongside fellowship and reuniting with others.
In the week prior to the annual meeting, Southern Baptists intentionally engaged the host city of Orlando to serve the community and proclaim the Gospel through a series of events in Crossover. Tuesday morning, June 9, North American Mission Board (NAMB) Vice President of Evangelism Tim Dowdy shared that more than 1,000 people professed faith in Christ.
Churches from 15 different states came to Orlando, Dowdy said. In total, 554 churches participated in Crossover, whether by hosting events, serving as volunteers or praying for the churches and others involved.
Nearly 4,000 volunteers helped to make the various outreach events happen. The fruit of their efforts allowed nearly 20,000 people to hear the Gospel, and leaders reported 1,077 people professed faith in Christ.
At the meeting June 9 and 10, messengers totaled 11,692, and registered guests and exhibitors brought the total number of attendees to 21,143.
Officers
Florida pastor Willy Rice was elected president with 57 percent of the vote over South Carolina pastor Josh Powell.
“I’m very humbled and honored, obviously, to be elected to this position, and I think it’s been a good two days for Southern Baptists,” Rice said at a press conference. “I think that anyone who may be concerned about a leftward undertow, a woke riptide in the SBC, I think we leave Orlando with that firmly dispelled.”
Rice, pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, will lead the slate of officers that includes First Vice President Craig Carlisle, associational missions strategist for Etowah Baptist Association in Gadsden, Ala.; Second Vice President J. Allen Murray, pastor of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Supply, N.C.; Registration Secretary Don Currence, administrative pastor at First Baptist Church in Ozark, Mo.; and Recording Secretary Travis Kearns, associational missions strategist for Three Rivers Baptist Association in Taylors, S.C.
CP allocation budget
Capping a 16-year process, the International Mission Board (IMB) will begin receiving 51 percent of national Cooperative Program receipts annually in the 2026-2027 fiscal year, messengers voted June 10.
Those gifts will benefit the 63 new missionaries commissioned during the June 9 opening session of the annual meeting. As missionaries took the stage and stood on the floor of the Orange County Convention Center, church messengers listened as they described their callings and expressed gratitude for support of their Great Commission work.
IMB President Paul Chitwood announced that the missionary pipeline is “exploding,” noting a 500 percent increase in recent years, an announcement that was met with applause.
Historic votes
Messengers expressed a desire to take a break from task forces, voting to indefinitely postpone nine motions that called for them or a study committee among 30 total motions. The motions included one submitted by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler to the SBC Constitution limiting friendly cooperation to churches with only men serving in the office and function of pastors, specifically, in the role of preaching to an assembled congregation. That motion received the first of two required two-thirds votes of approval.
That said, messengers celebrated the report and recommendations brought by a task force dedicated to studying the need for ministry to those with disabilities.
“It is quite possible that individuals affected by disabilities are the largest lost people group on the planet,” said task force chairman and Maryland/Delaware Executive Director Tom Stolle. “We cannot leave them behind.”
Entity reports
Reports from entity heads included news of a 10-year high in churches planted through the North American Mission Board, stories of how Southern Baptists’ compassion ministry is helping around the world and how Southern Baptist funds keep international missionaries safe and on the field longer than other organizations.
Messengers also heard reports from their six seminaries, including Danny Akin’s last address as president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Southern Baptists applauded outgoing WMU Executive Director Sandy Wisdom-Martin for her 10 years of service while welcoming incoming president Carolyn Fountain. Fountain was not the only new leader introduced; Lifeway’s Ryan Blackwell, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s Evan Lenow and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Scott Pace likewise appeared during their respective entity’s report.
Ethnic fellowship
Numerous ethnic groups held meetings in Orlando in conjunction with the annual meeting. Conversations included spreading the Gospel, advocacy, building connections, encouragement, immigration concerns and submission to God.
Resolutions
Resolutions addressed Southern Baptists’ commitment to the sanctity of life through opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide and emphasized the importance of in-person church amid the growth of technology. Other resolutions affirmed the enforcement of borders as well as the dignity of immigrants, the office of pastor/elder/overseer as limited to men, the importance of bivocational pastors as well as encouragement for all ministers to finish well.
A resolution commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States noted the founders’ belief in unalienable rights “given by God and secured by government.” Others opposed the rise of antisemitism and political violence.
Messages at the Pastors’ Conference coalesced around unity and evangelism. The addition of micro-conferences for ministry areas of other church staff proved popular, with full rooms across multiple breakout sessions in addition to large-group gatherings.
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