News

SBC 2024: RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE REFLECTS ON MESSENGERS ADOPTING 8 RESOLUTIONS

INDIANAPOLIS — Kristen Ferguson, chair of the 2024 Committee on Resolutions, was hoping to see Southern Baptist Convention messengers adopt all 10 of the resolutions the committee had prepared. It didn’t work out exactly that way — but the committee nonetheless finished with a perfect record: eight resolutions presented, eight resolutions adopted. During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Ferguson said that even though time restraints caused two of the resolutions to

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SBC 2024: LAW AMENDMENT FAILS TO GAIN REQUIRED PERCENTAGE OF VOTES

INDIANAPOLIS — In a highly anticipated vote on the final day of this year’s Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, messengers narrowly defeated the proposed Law Amendment which specified that only men can serve “as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” During last year’s annual meeting in New Orleans, messengers adopted a motion by Mike Law, pastor of Arlington Baptist Church in Virginia, that the SBC Constitution

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MESSENGERS TO 2024 SBC ANNUAL MEETING ADOPT EIGHT RESOLUTIONS

INDIANAPOLIS — Eight resolutions were adopted by messengers attending the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. The Committee on Resolutions proposed 10 resolutions (some submitted by messengers at large and some by the committee), but messengers only adopted 8 of those — time restraints caused two of the resolutions to be left unpresented.

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SBC 2024: MESSENGERS APPROVE FOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO DEAL WITH CHURCHES’ ‘FRIENDLY COOPERATION’

INDIANAPOLIS — Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention passed a slate of recommendations June 11 related to how the convention deals with churches that no longer “closely identify with” the SBC in “faith and practice.” The recommendations came from the Cooperation Group, which was formed with the assignment of studying the issue over the past year. “This SBC was chartered for the purpose of directing the energies of Baptists for

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TENNESCENE: JUN. 12

LEADERS First Baptist Church, Gordonsville, has called Brandon Patton as pastor. He and his wife, Gina, have two daughters. Doe River Baptist Church, Elizabethton, called Wayne Lyons as pastor on May 5. CHURCHES Barton’s Creek Baptist Church, Lebanon, celebrated its 175th anniversary on June 2.

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SBC 2024: PRESSLEY WINS SECOND RUN-OFF FOR PRESIDENT; OTHER OFFICERS ELECTED

INDIANAPOLIS — It took “double overtime” but the Southern Baptist Convention now has a new president. North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley was elected on Wednesday morning, defeating Dan Spencer, pastor of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, in a second run-off at the SBC’s annual meeting.  Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, won the second runoff with 4,244 votes (56.12 percent). Spencer received 3,305 votes (43.71 percent).  Pressley was

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SBC 2024: MESSENGERS APPROVE ARITF RECOMMENDATIONS; QUESTIONS REMAIN

INDIANAPOLIS — Southern Baptist messengers approved recommendations presented by the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force on June 11. The first recommendation included affirming the expansion of the Sexual Abuse Toolkit, efforts to complete the Ministry Check website and the “creation of a permanent home for abuse prevention and response.” The second recommendation involved referring these objectives back to the SBC Executive Committee to finalize a plan, structure and securing needed

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SBC 2024: PRESIDENTIAL RACE STILL UNDECIDED

INDIANAPOLIS — Messengers at the SBC annual meeting are still waiting to see who the next president will be. With six candidates originally in the race, voting on Tuesday night did not result in a winner, instead leading to a run-off between the top three vote-getters — Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.; Dan Spencer, pastor of First Baptist Church in Sevierville; and David Allen,

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SBC 2024: ‘GOD’S ETERNAL MISSION MATTERS MOST,’ SAYS NEW EC PRESIDENT IORG

INDIANAPOLIS — The past five years of turmoil surrounding the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee led to growing chatter about whether the entity had outlived its purpose, but the voices seem quieter with the recent installation of Jeff Iorg as the EC’s new leader. In his first official report to Southern Baptist messengers as the EC president and CEO (June 11), Iorg not only outlined his vision but also shared

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SBC 2024: MESSENGERS VOTE TO DISAFFILIATE WITH VIRGINIA BAPTIST CONGREGATION

INDIANAPOLIS — Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting voted June 11 to disaffiliate with First Baptist Church Alexandria, Virginia, by a ballot vote of 6,759 (91.78 percent) to 563 (7.65 percent). Forty-two ballots were disallowed. The church’s messengers were initially seated when they registered, but during the afternoon’s business session, another messenger requested they be “unseated on the grounds of egalitarianism.” The motion was immediately referred to the

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TENNESCENE: JUN. 12

LEADERS First Baptist Church, Gordonsville, has called Brandon Patton as pastor. He and his wife, Gina, have two daughters. Doe River Baptist Church, Elizabethton, called

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