English
Korean
Spanish
DALLAS—When Southern Baptists gather each summer to celebrate God’s work among their churches, the crucial task they must accomplish involves the empowerment of their common ministry for the upcoming year. Messengers from the churches that make up the Southern Baptist Convention approve a budget to support their work around the world, as well as those who will steward their institutions and resources.
This year, 10,599 messengers met in Dallas on June 10-11 and worked through a robust schedule of business. They approved a 2025-2026 allocation budget of $190 million, including an off-the-top “special priority allocation” of $3 million to cover continuing legal expenses.
Officers
Sitting president Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C., was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term. Daniel Ritchie, a vocational evangelist from Durham, N.C., was elected first vice president. The second vice president role was given to Craig Carlisle, an associational missions strategist from Gadsden, Ala. Rounding out the slate of officers was Registration Secretary Don Currence, administrative pastor for First Baptist Church, Ozark, Mo., and Recording Secretary Nathan Finn, a professor at Greenville University in South Carolina. Finn and Currence were elected by acclamation.
Resolutions
Messengers approved eight resolutions—non-binding statements on timely issues—during their time in Dallas. Three were broken out in the convention schedule and adopted without amendment: an expression of appreciation for Dallas, the host city; a declaration of cooperation on the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program; and a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Baptist Faith and Message.
Other resolutions approved focused on the harmful and predatory nature of sports betting; on banning pornography; on restoring moral clarity through God’s design for gender, marriage and the family; on standing against the moral evil and medical dangers of chemical abortion pills; and on advocating for international religious freedom.
Other business
Messengers gave first approval to a constitutional change that would allow an annual meeting to amend the convention’s statement of faith with approval of two-thirds of the messengers present.
Other recommendations included the choice of convention cities for 2027 (Indianapolis), 2028 (St. Louis), and 2029 (San Antonio).
Motions to abolish the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and to add language to Article 3 of the convention’s constitution relating to qualifications for being a Southern Baptist Church failed by ballot vote. The proposed constitutional amendment would have required SBC churches to affirm, appoint, or employ “only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.”
Additionally, Caleb Turner, senior pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church, was elected to preach the convention sermon in 2026. Dan Lanier, a vocational evangelist from Meridian, Miss., is the alternate preacher.
Next year’s meeting will take place June 9-10 in Orlando.
