NEW ORLEANS — There are three fewer churches in the Southern Baptist Convention following an overwhelming vote June 13 by messengers at the annual meeting in New Orleans. Two congregations were disfellowshipped for having women pastors — Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., and Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. — while another church — Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Fla. — was deemed to not be in “friendly

NEW ORLEANS — For 178 years, Southern Baptists have cooperated in fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, Willie McLaurin told messengers Tuesday afternoon in New Orleans. The interim president and CEO for the Southern Baptist Executive Committee (EC) called Southern Baptists to renewed cooperation and a deeper dependence on Jesus in their work together. “Generations come and generations go, but our mission has not changed. In fact, it

NEW ORLEANS — Bart Barber was reelected as president of the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday, winning by a wide margin against Mike Stone at the SBC’s annual meeting.  Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, received 68 percent of the votes in his bid for a second term. His reelection holds true to a long-established pattern in SBC leadership, as presidents have typically served two terms during

For his sermon on mercy, Bartholomew Orr turned to a text that might seem surprising — the story of Jesus cleansing the temple in Matthew 21. Orr, senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, had been tasked with unpacking Matthew 5:7 — “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” — at the Southern Baptist Pastors Conference on June 12. As he talked about how Jesus turned over the

NEW ORLEANS — Roc Collins, strategic objectives director for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, said the source of joy for Christians should never be in question.   “Joy is the overflowing expression of the Lord Jesus living in us,” said Collins while addressing attendees at the 2023 SBC Pastors’ Conference. “When the Holy Spirit sets up residence in our lives, joy is what is produced.” Collins was among the speakers

— The officers of the 2023 Southern Baptist Pastors Conference have partnered with the Southern Baptist Foundation to create an endowment that will allow the event to fund itself in the future, said Daniel Dickard, president of this year’s Pastors Conference. Dickard, pastor of Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, spoke briefly about the endowment between messages at the conference in New Orleans. A video explaining the fund is