The speakers for the 2023 SBC Pastors Conference in New Orleans were announced recently. The event is set for June 11-12, 2023.

“While distinct in their personalities, our preachers share a common belief that expository preaching is a theological outgrowth based on a high view of Scripture,” said Daniel Dickard, conference president.

Dickard says he hopes the conference will encourage pastors toward long-lasting ministry and spiritual health, that “they will encourage and challenge attendees that character matters in ministry, as the life of Christ, as revealed in the Scriptures, is lived in and through the life of the pastor.”

D.J. Horton, pastor of Church at the Mill in Moore, S.C., is among the list of speakers, which also includes H.B. Charles, of Jacksonville, Fla.; David Allen, of Cordova, Tenn.; Phil Waldrep, of Decatur, Ala.; Chip Luter, of New Orleans; Andrew Hébert, of Longview, Texas; Jim Shaddix, of Wake Forest, N.C.; and Bartholomew Orr, of Southaven, Miss.

The theme of the conference is “Character Matters in Ministry: Beatitudes of a Pastor,” and the eight speakers will preach through the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12.

Additionally, Wayne Bray, pastor of First Baptist Church/Upstate Church of Simpsonville, S.C., is among nine more speakers who will provide pastoral talks on the subject “Character Matters in Ministry,” each focusing on a different aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22.

Dickard, pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., emphasized that the diverse group of selected speakers share a passion for the Word of God and exegetical preaching. Dickard is the son of retired South Carolina pastor Wayne Dickard.

“This year’s conference is unique in that we are introducing several new preachers to the Pastors Conference line-up,” Dickard said. “All of the selected preachers and speakers have an unwavering stance on the inerrancy of Scripture and a rock-ribbed commitment to the authority and sufficiency of the Bible.

“While distinct in their personalities, our preachers share a common belief that expository preaching is a theological outgrowth based on a high view of Scripture and, as such, they will encourage and challenge attendees that character matters in ministry — as the life of Christ, as revealed in the Scriptures, is lived in and through the life of the pastor.”

Dickard and his fellow officers also announced plans to establish an endowment to finance future conferences via a partnership with the Southern Baptist Foundation.

As opposed to the conference president and officers raising their own support for each year’s event, the endowment would allow future conferences to pay for themselves based upon interest earnings.

Dickard told Baptist Press the creation of the endowment will hopefully relieve the financial burden of future conferences and ensure the continuation of the worthwhile event.

“The creation and constitution of a Pastors Conference Endowment would provide a consistent revenue stream for future officers and, when fully funded, the conference would pay for itself through interest earnings pulled from the endowment’s corpus,” he said.

Complete information about the endowment, as well as other details about the event, can be found at the Pastors Conference website.

— Timothy Cockes is a Baptist Press staff writer.