“A Great Commission People with a Great Commandment Heart” will provide the focus for a June 14-15 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix that will be more compact and offer more opportunities for fellowship.
Phoenix Convention CenterA broad range of auxiliary activities also will be held, from Crossover 2011 evangelistic outreach events to the annual Pastors’ Conference and Woman’s Missionary Union annual meeting and missions celebration.
Follow the annual meeting online at http://www.sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc11/default.asp.
The SBC’s business sessions in the Phoenix Convention Center will include messengers’ consideration of recommendations from the SBC Executive Committee’s review of ethnic church and ethnic church leader participation in the convention.
Bryant Wright, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said last year’s emphasis on “Great Commission Resurgence” laid the foundation for this year’s challenge to fulfill Christ’s disciple-making command.
“I’m very thankful for what Johnny Hunt and the GCR Task Force did in calling attention to the fact that we’re not baptizing as many, we’re not growing, that we’re not doing our part of fulfilling the Great Commission,” Wright said. “Now that we understand that, the fulfillment of the Great Commission is going to be front and center at the convention.”
In January, the SBC’s Committee on Order of Business announced significant changes in the annual meeting schedule, including holding two missionary appointment services, fewer business sessions and no night sessions. Wright said the changes are designed to allow a greater focus on the Great Commission and free up time for fellowship, discussions and family.
“We’ve asked the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board to commission new missionaries during the meeting,” Wright said. “This is going to allow the churches of the convention to take part.
“Days at the convention are long and an important part of the annual meeting is fellowship, so you go to eat dinner with somebody that you haven’t seen in five years and the next thing you know it’s too late to get back to the evening session,” Wright said. “We’re going to go a little longer in the afternoon so people can have the evening free for fellowship with friends.”
The main addresses during the annual meeting, combined with a Pastors’ Conference focus on church planting, will inspire and challenge participants to take the gospel to a world in desperate need of good news, Wright said.
“I realize Southern Baptists are just one part of God’s kingdom. It takes Bible-believing Christians all around the world to fulfill the Great Commission,” Wright said. “But we really do have a wonderful opportunity to put the Great Commission front and center for Southern Baptists. We will have the focus of Kevin Ezell at NAMB on church planting, and also Vance Pitman’s focus in the Pastors’ Conference on church planting in the western United States, and we also will have myself and David Platt and Tom Elliff at IMB challenging us to really get serious about reaching the unreached people groups of the earth.”
While there are many people groups where less than 2 percent of the population is Christian, there are 3,800 “unengaged” people groups that, as far as anyone knows, have no Christian witness at all, Wright said.
“It’s what’s on my heart. I know it’s what’s on Tom Elliff’s heart. The challenge we’re putting before churches is, let’s really make a commitment to engage the unengaged people groups with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Wright said. “It’s important that we remember relationship with Christ is to be pre-eminent and when we really follow Jesus, then we’re going to have a passion for the lost.” – BP