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

INDIANAPOLIS — Southern Baptist messengers approved the six recommendations presented by the Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force on June 11 in Indianapolis following the release of its report on May 12. The Task Force followed up with releasing its proposed recommendations three weeks later June 3. Last year, Southern Baptist Convention messengers in New Orleans approved the formation of a group to study the success of the GCR Task

INDIANAPOLIS — The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is not just “rooted” in the Southern Baptist Convention, “it is responsive to this convention,” Brent Leatherwood, president of the ERLC, told messengers in his report during the June 12 afternoon session of the SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. Leatherwood said the commission’s work on several key issues is evidence that the ERLC continues to provide a vital service in helping churches

INDIANAPOLIS — The 2024 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention convened June 11 with 10,199 registered messengers. Several Tennessee Baptists were elected to positions of leadership during the first session. Lindsay Nicholet of Grace Baptist Church, Franklin, and William Seale of First Baptist Church, Morristown, were elected to serve on the 2024-25 Committee on Nominations. During the 2024 Committee on Nominations report, other Tennessee Baptists were elected for the

INDIANAPOLIS — D.J. Horton, pastor of the Church at The Mill in Spartanburg, S.C., was elected president of the 2025 SBC Pastors’ Conference on June 10 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Horton, founder of Living Worthy Ministries, won in a runoff election with Georgia pastor Brad Whitt. Chris Bolt, a Virginia pastor, also was nominated. Horton will lead the planning for next year’s Pastors’ Conference June 8-9 in

INDIANAPOLIS — About 51 percent of Hoosiers, inhabitants of Indiana, say they seldom or never attend church or religious services, according to a recent report by Axios Indianapolis. One local pastor is praying that Crossover will help to turn those numbers around. “We are hoping that Crossover is a spark that will light that fuel of revival and evangelism here in our community, help us build up some of our

Southern Baptists interested in accessing more detailed financial records from national-level, Cooperative Program-funded entities, commissions and other groups did not win over the trustees of the SBC Executive Committee. Meeting on June 10 in Indianapolis, EC members declined to recommend action stated in two motions referred from the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting and will report the decision to messengers during this week’s meeting, which begins tomorrow (June 11). The EC