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ORLANDO—The 2026 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention drew 11,690 messengers June 9-10. A number of noteworthy decisions were made over the course of the two-day meeting:
Convention officers
Willy Rice, pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Fla., was elected president over Josh Powell of South Carolina. Joining Rice is first vice president Craig Carlisle, director of missions for the Etowah Baptist Association in Alabama; Allen Murray of Supply, N.C., who was elected second vice president; Travis Kerns of South Carolina, who will serve as recording secretary; and Don Currence of Ozark, Mo., who was re-elected registration secretary by acclamation. These officers assumed their duties at the conclusion of this year’s meeting.
Motions
Thirty messengers submitted motions from the floor. The Committee on Order of Business was tasked with disposing of the motions according to the convention’s constitution and bylaws and according to the will of the messengers. Motions dealing with the internal workings of a convention entity are automatically referred to that entity. Motions requiring study or complex consideration are referred to the Executive Committee for a report to the 2027 Annual Meeting. But the messengers can set aside those rules.
This year, messengers exercised that prerogative. Six motions calling for the formation of study committees or task forces were “postponed indefinitely” by the messengers instead of being referred. This effectively wiped those motions away. A few motions, as usual, were ruled out of order for various conflicts with the convention’s governing documents.
Only one motion submitted by messengers was scheduled for a vote during this year’s convention. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, offered an amendment to Article 3 of the convention’s constitution to “make clear that a cooperating Southern Baptist church … does not affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of a pastor/elder/overseer, specifically preaching to the assembled congregation.” Rather than referring the amendment to the Executive Committee, messengers agreed to suspend Bylaw 6 and thus began the clock on the constitutional amendment this year. Final consideration will happen at next year’s SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. Opponents believed the amendment unnecessary, but it passed handily.
Executive Committee report
The Southern Baptist Executive Committee, which does the business of the convention between meetings, proposed a $186 million allocation budget to fund SBC entities for the 2026-2027 convention year. A notable change was the increase of the International Mission Board’s allocation to 51% of the budget, a $2 million increase.
The Executive Committee also brought motions for the messengers’ consideration dealing with bylaw amendments and sites for future annual meetings. All passed without amendment.
A lengthier presentation came from a disability ministries task force, which itself had multiple recommendations. Sandra Peoples, who serves as disability ministry consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, proposed a recommendation that the SBC follow the SBTC’s lead in designating the second Sunday in July as “Disability Ministry Sunday.” The task force additionally suggested that Lifeway Christian Resources, the convention’s seminaries, and other SBC entities, state conventions, and local churches provide resources and expertise to serve disabled people in their communities. The full report of the task force is available here. Resources related to the SBTC’s ministry to disabled people can be accessed here.
At the recommendation of the Committee on Order of Business, David Dockery, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was chosen to preach the convention sermon in 2027.
His alternate is Jackie Allen, pastor of Cross Church in Surprise, Ariz. The convention music leader will be Kyle Mullett of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla.
Resolutions
Messengers approved 11 resolutions—nonbinding statements on timely issues that reflect a consensus of the messengers—in Orlando. Committee chairman Hunter Baker told the convention they received 40 resolutions. Some were declined by the committee, and some were consolidated into one of the 11 presented to messengers.
Topics in the approved resolutions were diverse. The convention expressed gratitude to the City of Orlando, and noted the 250th anniversary of the United States, also emphasizing the contributions of Baptists to the protection of religious liberty from the nation’s founding. A resolution on bivocational and volunteer pastors honored the “commitment, perseverance, humility, and gospel faithfulness demonstrated by bivocational and volunteer pastors.” A statement on assisted suicide reiterated the convention’s previous affirmations of the holiness of life, adding, “we … reject the rebranding of assisted suicide through euphemistic language that obscures the moral reality of intentionally ending human life.” On persons with disabilities and their families, messengers hoped that by “providing excellent care for those with disabilities and their families, our churches will be a faithful witness of Jesus Christ.”
Other topics included finishing well in life and ministry, immigration, the rise of anti-Semitism, the office and function of the pastor/elder/overseer, and the nature and importance of the physically gathered church.
The 2027 Southern Baptist Convention meeting will take place in Indianapolis, Ind., June 15-16.
