October 1, 2026
I missed the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, this year, but watched a significant amount of it via live streaming. I attended my first Convention in 1968 in Houston, Texas, and according to my best calculations, I have been a messenger to 57 of them.
There are some things I miss about the annual meetings of Southern Baptists. First, I feel like I lose something very special when I am not there to enjoy fellowship with other messengers. Having pastored in four different states, I have friends that I only got to see when we all assemble in some city in June each year. Sitting at home and watching the gathering of thousands of fellow Baptists proves the reality of Psalm 133:1: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Oh, there are differences of opinion, but I believe our spiritual (agape) love for one another transcends all else.
I know the national convention for our Baptist fellowship may be primarily a business meeting, but I have always looked forward to the preaching of the Gospel at the Pastors’ Conference and the Convention as well. Some of the sermons I have heard through the years have resonated with me to this very day and have been life-changing.
Through the years, we have had many great preachers who have lifted their voices like a trumpet calling us to action. I am always in need of a clear and forthright pronouncement of God’s Holy Word.
I was particularly pleased this year that Pastor Wayne Bray was elected president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference. I have known Wayne for most of his adult life. He has Georgia roots and is a man of impeccable character. He has pastored three churches in Georgia and resigned from Beulah Baptist Church in Douglasville to become pastor of First Baptist Church in Simpsonville, South Carolina – a growing church with 7,700 members who gather in 20 distinct worship services in 9 different locations.
I rejoiced when I watched a former Georgia Baptist pastor and current Vice President of Evangelism for the North American Mission Board, Tim Dowdy, report to the SBC messengers that 1,077 individuals professed faith in Christ in response to the annual Crossover evangelism emphasis in Orlando. If the angels in heaven rejoice over the salvation of one person, we should certainly celebrate the conversion of 1,000-plus new believers. I also heard the good news that there were 5% more baptisms convention-wide in 2025 than in the previous year.
There is almost nothing that thrills my heart at a convention session more than when the International Mission Board commissions those dedicated servants of God who have been called and equipped to serve Him on foreign soil. This year, there were 63 new missionaries commissioned to join an SBC force of 3,500 other missionaries serving in 155 different countries. It gives evidence of what we can do together.
We all want to see our seminaries thrive with the kind of instruction that makes their graduates true champions for Christ, and reports of our seminary presidents are always interesting, but our local churches need to be faithful in calling out the call.
It appears that there were two good men who were making themselves available to be SBC president, but Dr. Willy Rice, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida, won the election. I was privileged to visit with him some time ago and was very impressed with his spirit, his understanding of our institutions and agencies, and his familiarity with our strengths and weaknesses. I am of the strong opinion that he will serve us with wisdom and grace.
I also watched the convention business sessions remotely. That facet of the convention brought back memories of some of the business meetings I had in my churches as a pastor. I tried to carefully plan those meetings with a prayerful and thoughtful attitude, but there were times when issues were presented that I did not anticipate, and sometimes there were discussions that lasted longer than I wished. President Clint Pressley moderated those business meetings with clarity and fairness as much as I could determine, and it was good to have one of my favorite Georgia Baptists, Dr. Barry McCarty, back as our SBC parliamentarian.
Baptists must be given the opportunity to express themselves, and I don’t question the need for that to take place, but I also wonder what would happen to a watching world if we could make it abundantly clear that our priorities are Biblical fidelity, passionate evangelism, and global missions.
I don’t play golf anymore, but when I did play golf, I enjoyed the game when I spent more time on the fairway and on the greens than in the weeds and the woods. As we move forward, hopefully we can focus on the priorities outlined in God’s Word, because we have a world to win for Christ and a nation to save from the vain and devilish philosophies of the day. So, let’s make sure that we stay out of the weeds and focus on the fairway, doing what God has called us to do.
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J. Gerald Harris is a retired pastor and journalist who served as editor of The Christian Index for nearly two decades. You can reach him at gharris@loveliftedmehigher.org.
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