Annual Meeting

If you want to get Mark Clifton talking, ask him about a church’s impact on its community and beyond. Want to see him find another gear? Call those churches “small.”

NASHVILLE (BP) – Evan Lenow heard the calls in recent years to abolish or defund the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. And it broke his heart.

The number of Slavic churches partnering with the Southern Baptist Convention is on the rise.

ORLANDO (BP) – Emphasizing his role as president to be one of representing churches, not an entity or committee, newly-elected Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice addressed several topics at a press conference Wednesday afternoon (June 10) immediately following the final gavel at the SBC Annual Meeting. 

ORLANDO (BP) – As he spoke with the media Wednesday afternoon (June 10), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler leaned on one word to consistently answer a question posed in numerous ways. 

ORLANDO (BP) – An amendment specifying the role of pastor and the act of preaching as limited to men, brought by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler, received the first of two required two-thirds votes by messengers on June 10 to become part of the SBC Constitution.

NASHVILLE (BP) – In 1917, Southern Baptists decided the Convention needed a central office to handle its business throughout the year. When the Cooperative Program was established a few years later, the SBC Executive Committee received a small portion of the budget each year.

In the past decade, there have been debates over what it means to be a church “in friendly cooperation,” and what “dealbreakers” would sever that relationship. These discussions have been confusing at times and the processes contested in part because we are in uncharted territory; the debate itself reflects a development in Southern Baptist self-understanding.

The event will address online exploitation, sexual abuse prevention, survivor care, human trafficking and ministry safeguarding, organizers said, and also show churches how to compassionately and ethically protect the vulnerable. 

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (BP)—SBC President Clint Pressley announced May 4, that John Pendelton will chair the Registration Committee for the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando in June. Pendleton, pastor of Bardstown Baptist Church in Bardstown, Kentucky, was a member of the committee in 2025.