The 2021 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting was the largest since the 1995 meeting in Atlanta, and much of that had to do with the location and the involvement of first-time messengers to the convention.

A survey of those in attendance showed that nearly 80 percent of messengers drove to the June meeting in Nashville. The Music City’s proximity to a large number of Southern Baptists was a main reason for the capacity crowd of 15,726 messengers, not counting guests, exhibitors and others present at the Music City Center. Messengers represented all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Another reason for the increase was the number of first-time messengers in attendance. Two out of every five messengers were attending their first SBC annual meeting, and most of them came from churches that had not previously sent messengers. The messengers represented 5,570 churches, a 62.5 percent increase in the number of churches engaged.

The addition of 3,856 guests and 1,892 exhibitors meant the crowd officially numbered 21,474 — one of the largest gatherings in Nashville since before the COVID-19 pandemic. South Carolina registered 614 messengers.