Dallas’ Omni Hotel is lit up to welcome Southern Baptists to the city. Photo by Roy Burroughs
By Baptist Press staff
DALLAS (BP) – More than 18,000 people gathered at the Dallas convention center for the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting under the theme “Hold Fast” from Hebrews 10 and an urging from SBC President Clint Pressley to cling to what makes Southern Baptists unique.
Messengers saw moments of celebration of Southern Baptist doctrine and cooperation as well as some moments of intense debate about how best to protect them.
Crossover takes Gospel across Dallas metroplex
A sweltering Saturday in Dallas served as the capstone to a week of Gospel-centered outreach and service to the communities in the metroplex as Southern Baptists gathered for Crossover Dallas to reach the city.
Through the help of local churches in Dallas, associations like the Dallas Baptist Association, and the two state conventions, thousands of volunteers came alongside dozens of churches to proclaim the gospel through various outreach events ahead of the SBC Annual Meeting.
“We had 89 churches locally involved in hosting events; 2,955 volunteers who participated,” NAMB vice president Tim Dowdy said in a report to messengers June 10. “We had 13,638 homes visited; 17,033 people heard the Gospel, and 711 people came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.”
Registration larger than last Dallas visit
The 10,599 messengers topped the 9,632 who registered the last time the SBC gathered in Dallas in 2018, unofficial counts show.
In addition to messengers, 4,141 guests and 3,433 exhibitors signed up, bringing 2025 total registration to 18,173, said Jonathan Howe, SBC Executive Committee vice president for convention administration.
Messengers came from 3,899 churches, all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, Howe said.
At the 2018 Dallas gathering, guests, exhibitors, credentialed press and others joined messengers for a total attendance count of 16,032, more than 2,000 less than this year’s attendance.
This year’s messenger registration trailed the 2024 number of 10,946 in Indianapolis. But when guests and exhibitors were added, this year’s total registration surpassed Indy’s 16,818. However, more churches were represented in Indy, 3,988.
Southern Baptists celebrate 100th anniversary of BF&M and Cooperative Program
Messngers celebrated two important milestones while in Dallas with resolutions and times of reflection marking the 100th anniversaries of the Baptist Faith and Message and the Cooperative Program.
The commemoration included a video featuring Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler giving a brief history of Baptist confessions, the need for the BF&M and its continued place in the SBC.
New Orleans pastor and former SBC president Fred Luter prayed for the Convention’s ongoing commitment to biblical fidelity.
Mohler and Luter were joined by former New Orleans Seminary president Chuck Kelley and former Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission president Richard Land, all members of the committee that worked on the 2000 revision of Southern Baptists’ statement of faith.
Southern Baptists also marked the centennial of the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s strategy for funding its missions and ministry. Since its inception in 1925, more than $20 billion has flowed through the Cooperative Program.
“Twenty billion!” Iorg emphasized. “Thank you, Southern Baptists, for every dollar you have given, the faithful giving of our forefathers, and for the immeasurable, eternal impact of these results. We celebrate God’s past acts today, but more importantly, we build this memorial so we can point to future generations and say, ‘This is what God can do through a people who cooperate together.’”
In a resolution, messengers expressed thanks to God and “for Southern Baptist churches and individuals that give faithfully and sacrificially through the Cooperative Program.”
58 IMB missionaries sent to the nations
Southern Baptists united to celebrate 58 newly appointed International Mission Board missionaries during the June 10 opening session of the meeting. Messengers watched as missionaries took the stage to share their calling and thank those who are supporting their Great Commission task.
Missionaries, said IMB president Paul Chitwood, are sent and supported, first and foremost, by their local churches, “but make no mistake – they are also sent by us, here in Dallas, Texas.”
Motions address ERLC, constitutional amendment
Messengers narrowly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment and voted not to abolish the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) during the two-day session. A motion by Texas pastor Tom Buck to investigate claims that the SBC Executive Committee mistreated and maligned a former EC chairman also failed.
A motion by Juan Sanchez, pastor of High Pointe Baptist in Austin, to amend the SBC Constitution to define a cooperating church as a congregation that “affirms, appoints or employs only men as any kind of pastor” gained just over 60 percent of the vote, but failed to garner the first of two two-thirds majorities needed to adopt it.
In the latest attempt to abolish or defund the ERLC, nearly 57 percent of messengers voted to keep the entity. The motion to abolish was brought by Willy Rice, pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Fla.
Pastors’ Conference preachers encourage mentoring next generation
South Carolina pastor D.J. Horton invited a slate of preachers who aimed to encourage pastors to raise up the next generation even as they serve their local churches during the 2025 Pastors’ Conference.
Following a powerful prayer service and a time of worship led by Shane & Shane, Robert Smith brought a message Monday night encouraging pastors to preach the truth in every season of ministry.
Aaron Burgner, pastor of Lakes Church in Lakeland, Florida, was elected 2026 Pastors Conference president.
Slate of candidates elected
Clint Pressley was overwhelmingly reelected president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Daniel Ritchie, evangelist, author and member of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., was elected first vice president.
Craig Carlisle, director of missions for the Etowah Baptist Association in Gadsden, Ala., was elected second vice president.
Don Currence, administrative pastor, First Baptist Church, Ozark, Mo., ran unopposed for his seventh term as registration secretary.
Nathan Finn, executive director of the Institute for Transformational Leadership and professor of faith and culture at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C., ran unopposed for his fourth term as recording secretary.
Southern Baptists hear from entities and seminaries
Reports from SBC entities included updates on efforts and initiatives carried forward over the past year.
Among the reports, messengers heard from the International Misson Board, the North American Mission Board, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Guidestone Financial. Resources, Lifeway Christian Resources and all six SBC seminaries.
First published by Baptist Press.