Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Dallas celebrated two important milestones: the 100th anniversaries of the Baptist Faith and Message statement and the Cooperative Program.
Nearly 10,600 messengers registered for the June 11-12 annual meeting, topping the 9,632 tally the last time the SBC gathered in Dallas in 2018.
The BF&M commemoration included a video featuring Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler giving a brief history of Baptist confessions and the need for the BF&M. He was joined on stage by three other members of the 2000 revision committee: Fred Luter, Chuck Kelley and Richard Land.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the original 1925 Baptist Faith and Message and the 25th anniversary of the 2000 BF&M, the messengers passed a resolution affirming the confession of faith for its “doctrinal integrity” and the grounding it provides for cooperation.
“It is our shared confession,” said SBC President Clint Pressley. “It is no small thing that we have been held together for so long by one confession.”
Messengers also marked the centennial of the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s strategy for funding its missions and ministry.
More than 10,500 messengers registered for the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas. (Photo by Roy Burroughs)
Referencing Joshua 4, SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg said, “In a similar way … Southern Baptists are erecting memorial stones of 100 years of cooperation demonstrated through the Cooperative Program.
“We point to missionaries sent, churches started, students educated, institutions built, and, most of all, people saved because Southern Baptists have contributed more than $20 billion through the Cooperative Program in the past 100 years.”
“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,’” Iorg said.
In a resolution, messengers expressed thanks to God and “for Southern Baptist churches and individuals that give faithfully and sacrificially through the Cooperative Program.”
Tony Wolfe, executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, was recognized for his leadership in helping celebrate CP and in co-authoring A Unity of Purpose: 100 Years of the SBC Cooperative Program.
Wolfe said an intentionally diverse group of 73 SBC representatives ceremonially signed a declaration of cooperation in Memphis, Tenn., in May. The declaration was reproduced as “Resolution #2: On the Centennial Anniversary of the Cooperative Program,” which was affirmed by messengers.
Constitutional Amendment
A constitutional amendment, which would have barred churches with a female pastor holding any position from the Southern Baptist Convention, fell short of a required two-thirds affirmative vote. Messengers voted 3,421 to 2,191 — approximately 61 to 39 percent — in favor of the amendment.
Juan Sanchez, of Austin, Texas, made the motion to amend Article 3 of the SBC constitution by adding as a qualification that an SBC church “affirms, appoints or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.”
The wording is identical to an amendment introduced by Pastor Mike Law, of Arlington, Va., at the 2023 annual meeting that met the two-thirds approval vote, but fell short of the requirement last year.
Sanchez believed the constitutional amendment was needed to “provide future guidelines for the Credentials Committee” as they rule whether a church is eligible to be affiliated with the SBC.
SBC President Clint Pressley, flanked by two SBC parliamentarians, leads messengers in a photo Wednesday morning, June 11. (Photo by Roy Burroughs)
Abolishing ERLC
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission survived an attempt by Florida messenger Willy Rice to abolish the SBC’s moral and public policy entity. Of 6,563 ballots cast, 3,744 (nearly 57 percent) voted to keep the ERLC, while 2,819 voted to abolish it.
“We thank the messengers for affirming the need for a Southern Baptist entity that advocates for our policy priorities before our nation’s leaders in ways that are rooted in Scripture, reflective of the Baptist Faith and Message, and responsive to the actions of our messengers,” said ERLC President Brent Leatherwood. “We are committed to continually listening to Southern Baptists on ways to better serve our Convention in the public square.”
Calling his motion an “opportunity for a wake-up call,” Rice maintained, “It gives that entity time to hear the concerns of the churches, pursue meaningful reform and return with a renewed mission. And that’s what we hope for.”
In another of the 28 motions presented during business sessions, Benjamin Cole, of North Carolina, requested the SBC legal counsel to countersue pastor and former SBC president Johnny Hunt to recover legal fees incurred by the convention.
Hunt sued the SBC and others over his appearance in the 2022 report following the Guidepost Solutions investigation into the SBC Executive Committee’s handling of sexual abuse allegations during a 20-year period. His lawsuit is one of three requiring significant expenses from the EC to defend.
Other Resolutions
A sweeping resolution on restoring moral clarity regarding gender, marriage and the family called for the overturn of Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage legal throughout the country, and the defunding of Planned Parenthood, with those public funds dispersed to life-affirming healthcare providers.
In addition to the overturning of Obergefell, the resolution calls for a return to laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman. The statement also urges Christians to “celebrate and embrace marriage and childbearing” and calls for “moral clarity” concerning discussions about declining fertility.
Other approved resolutions covered the harmful and predatory nature of sports betting, banning pornography, the dangers of chemical abortion pills and the importance of international religious freedom.
Budget Approved
Messengers approved a $190 million 2025-2026 Cooperative Program allocation budget, giving the Executive Committee a one-time $3 million special allotment for legal costs arising from investigations into its handling of sexual abuse claims.
The $3 million covers a deficit in the EC and SBC operating budget in the current fiscal year, with total operating revenue of $9,131,500 against operating expenses of $12,281,000.
The Business and Financial plan survived an attempt to require entities to disclose financial information disclosed on the IRS form 990. An amendment by Rhett Burns, pastor of First Baptist Church of Travelers Rest, S.C., to require such disclosures was rejected.
SBC Officers
Clint Pressley was reelected SBC president. Pressley ran against David Morrill, member of Applewood Baptist Church in Colorado. Pressley secured 5,567 votes (92.64 percent of 6,009 ballots cast), while Morrill received 408 votes (6.79 percent).
Daniel Ritchie, evangelist, author and member of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., was elected first vice president with 5,409 votes (almost 88 percent) out of 6,158 votes cast. Ritchie ran against Larry Helms, pastor of Fort Lawn Baptist Church in Fort Lawn, S.C., who received 722 votes.
Craig Carlisle, a director of missions from Gadsden, Ala., was elected second vice president, defeating two other nominees.
Both Don Currence, registration secretary, and Nathan Finn, recording secretary, ran unopposed and were reelected to their positions. Finn is executive director of the Institute for Transformational Leadership and professor of faith and culture at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C.
— Compiled by Todd Deaton, with reporting by Baptist Press and Baptist newspapers.