By Scott Barkley
ORLANDO (BP) – Pre-registration for messengers and childcare opens today as Southern Baptists continue preparations for the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting, June 7-10 at the Orange County Convention Center.
Directions for pre-registering and the information needed to do so are available and linked to SBCAnnualMeeting.net.
Registration with Giant Cow provides events and care for children 12 and under. Those 4 years old and under will enroll with the Giant Calf team. This year, elementary-age kids will take part in the original dramatic production of “A Giant Cow Christmas.”
Messengers are encouraged to confirm with their church that they are approved as such. Pre-registering online before arrival is highly recommended, even though it is possible to do so on site. Family members attending but not as messengers are to be registered as guests.
“All of that will save you time in the registration line in Orlando,” said Don Currence, registration secretary. “Yes, there will be a large attendance as it is in Orlando. It’s a great vacation spot and an election year. The latest information is that they are preparing for 20,000 seats in the hall for Tuesday and Wednesday.”
Comprehensive information for the annual meeting is being presented in the “Road to Orlando” video series, hosted by Jonathan Howe, EC Vice President for Convention Administration. Episode 2 focuses on pre-registration and childcare registration.
“February is basically the official kick-off of SBC Annual Meeting season,” said Howe. “For those planning to join us in Orlando, ancillary events such as the Ministers’ Wives Luncheon, the SBC Pastors’ Conference micro-conferences, the NAMB luncheon, and several others will be opening registration in the coming days and weeks. Be sure to check the weekly Road to Orlando episodes for more information.”
The annual meeting has averaged 11,628 messengers since 2021. Before that, the last meeting to exceed 10,000 messengers was in 2010, also in Orlando (11,075). The 2000 Orlando gathering brought 11,959 messengers.
To pre-register messengers from your church, you will need:
- Your church’s SBC ID number
- Your church’s total undesignated receipts for the previous SBC fiscal year – Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025
- Your church’s total giving to Convention causes for the same timeframe. This would include Cooperative Program giving, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering giving, Annie Armstrong Easter Offering giving and any other giving to national entities of the Southern Baptist Convention.
More than 19,500 room nights have been booked for the annual meeting, placing the Annual Meeting dates at 96 percent capacity.
Pre-registering doesn’t mean you get to skip the line, but it does streamline the process significantly. Members of the registration committee will be nearby to assist those who need help with their church’s information, Currence added.
“If you show up on Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. and think you’ll get registered in five minutes, you’ll be mistaken,” he said.
There are other steps messengers can take to ensure they aren’t the ones holding up the line.
“First, pre-register online,” he said. “Then, have your pre-registration email open and ready to show the QR Code to the computer operator. They can look up your information by name or church if you don’t have a hard copy or email handy, but it takes a little longer to do so.”
Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.