October 1, 2026
INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – Engines are revving for the 2027 SBC Annual Meeting & Pastors’ Conference as it’s set to roll into the Hoosier State next June. More than 150 pastors and church leaders gathered for a kickoff at Harvest Church Aug. 11.
Reflecting on Southern Baptists’ conviction and calling, SBC President Willy Rice told the group he’s already looking forward to the meeting.
Calling the SBC a family, Rice said he believes the upcoming meeting will be important.
“We have had some difficulties over the last decade,” he said. “And we are working to speak to those and to move beyond some of the present challenges into a more unified and prosperous and fruitful future.”
The Florida pastor said Southern Baptists must remember that conviction and calling go hand in hand.
“The Great Commission says you baptize and you teach. Those two things are inextricably bound together in our movement,” he said.
“We want convictional clarity. We want the world to know who Southern Baptists are. And that Southern Baptists are not eroding. We are not equivocating. We are not evolving. We are enduring. We are like a tree planted by a stream of water that will bear fruit in and out of season,” Rice said.
Fill the Earth
Rice announced the theme for the 2027 Annual Meeting would be “Fill the Earth,” based on Habakkuk 2:14, which says: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory, as the water covers the sea.”
Calling it Southern Baptists’ prayer, promise and purpose, Rice said he hopes folks would leave the 2027 meeting “renewed in our purpose that we’re going to give every last measure of our devotion to seeing it happen.”
A Higher Calling
South Carolina pastor Wayne Bray hopes Southern Baptists will cruise into the annual meeting focused and encouraged after spending two days in the pastors’ conference.
Bray told the group he’s chosen the theme “A Higher Calling” for the conference, based on 1 Timothy 3.
The speakers will all focus on “the character and integrity the Lord would have,” he said.
Jokingly, he pointed out that being a celebrity and being obnoxious did not appear in the list.
Instead, he listed four attributes that will be the conference’s primary focus:
Bray said he knows calling pastors to unity might be a challenge for some.
“No matter what we disagree on, no matter what happens in discussion or debate in the Convention … after the pastor’s conference,” he said, “I hope we can end on that Monday night … solidifying the point that God’s called us all together.”
Crossover 2027
One thing Southern Baptists can agree on is the importance of sharing their faith.
J.J. Washington from the North American Mission Board will once again spearhead the Crossover evangelism initiative across Indy.
Crossover is a group of coordinated outreach events spread across the metro or regional area in the days just before the annual meeting.
Washington called it his “joy and privilege” to lead the endeavor.
“We were here a few years ago, and it was a great experience,” he told the crowd, adding that organizers will need people to host events, to volunteer and to pray. The Crossover website will go live Aug. 25, Washington said.
SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg encouraged those present to help spread the word about the meeting so that churches will respond by sending messengers, volunteers and guests.
Hundreds of volunteers are needed to serve in roles such as greeters, ushers, and vote tellers, Iorg said.
He encouraged pastors to bring all the messengers their church is allowed to bring, but also to consider bringing more church members as guests.
Iorg said experiencing the International Mission Board’s Sending Celebration, hearing the ministry reports and visiting the exhibit hall will help people get a bigger picture of how God is at work through the Southern Baptist Convention.
The 2027 SBC Annual Meeting & Pastors’ Conference is set for June 13-16 at the Indianapolis Convention Center.
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This article appeared in Baptist Press.
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