TENNESSEE RANKS THIRD IN SBC MESSENGERS

Baptist Press

PHOENIX — The 160th annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention drew 5,018 registered messengers to Phoenix June 13-14. The unofficial total is 31.6 percent fewer than last year’s 7,321 messengers in St. Louis but 164 more than 2011 when the convention last met in Phoenix.

Including registered guests, exhibitors, and others, the total number of guests at the annual meeting rose to about 8,000 people.

Texas led in number of messengers with 484, followed by Arizona with 374 and Tennessee with 373.

Only six other states had 200 or more messengers: North Carolina, 316; Georgia, 303; California, 282; Florida, 266; Kentucky, 240; and Alabama, 234.

Official attendance numbers will be released later in June; the state-by-state numbers do not include guests or children.