Author: Jayson Larson

SBC26: Messengers gather to conduct the business of the convention at annual meeting

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.

SBC26: During convention sermon, Mesquite’s Turner urges Southern Baptists to lean into the power, presence of God

ORLANDO—In a culture awash in spiritual doubt, political upheaval, and economic fluctuation, Southern Baptists have an opportunity to change the course of history if they will embrace the presence and power of God through faithful obedience to His Word.

That was the challenge issued by Caleb Turner, senior pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church, during the convention sermon delivered Wednesday at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting.

Turner’s message—titled, “If not you, then who?”—was rooted in Exodus 4:1-3, which recounts the moments after God commissioned Moses to announce to the Egyptian ruler Pharoah that He was about to deliver His people from hundreds of years of slavery. Moses initially responded to God’s call with fear and doubt. He had experienced failure, living for decades in self-imposed exile, having fled from Egypt after murdering a man. He was a shepherd who didn’t even own his own sheep, tending his father-in-law’s flock.

Even so, the Israelites were delivered from slavery through Moses’ obedience that was grounded in his willingness to embrace God’s presence and power. Turner indicated that Southern Baptists can experience the mighty works of God by doing the same.

His presence matters

Upon receiving God’s command, Moses asks, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” The Lord responds, “I will be with you.” That God, Turner said, is greater than any of the false gods worshipped by the Egyptians at that time, and He has authority over all of creation.

“What peace it is to know that the one who is not limited by time because He is the creator of time can look throughout the course of history and time and call our name at the appointed time so we [can] have no doubt that it is the right time,” Turner said.

Southern Baptists must rest in that truth, Turner said, even when, like Moses, it moves them beyond their comfort zones. Getting comfortable outside the presence of God will leave a void marked by the absence of His peace, comfort, and joy.

“As we move into the next season of this great convention, we must relish and hold in high esteem the presence of God,” Turner said. “Lord, we do not want to be anywhere you are not. Your presence matters.”

His power makes the difference

Turner said Moses’ first excuse in response to God’s command was, “Who am I?” His second excuse followed: “But suppose they will not listen or believe me?” In Exodus 4:2, God directs Moses’ attention to the staff in his hand and commands him to throw it on the ground, at which time it became a snake. God then commands Moses to take the snake by the tail.

The miraculous moment was significant because it showed God’s authority superseded that of Moses, but also of Pharoah—whose crown included the likeness of a snake.

“The staff in Moses’ hand had always just been a staff,” Turner said, “but when he laid it down before God, a miracle was performed. Jesus is not the only man to ever die on a cross, but it is His death that makes all the difference, and when God asks us as Southern Baptists what is in our hands, it should be our convictions that are rooted in God’s Word in one hand and the grace we received from the cross in the other hand.”

His people must be obedient

Turner said Southern Baptists must be obedient to God and faithful to His Word, even if it clashes with their cultural convictions or personal desires. For example, Turner said he did not want to be a preacher and spent three years running from God’s calling on his life.

“I’m so glad God met me in the desert of my life so that I could get the opportunity to tell a dying world that we serve a risen savior,” he said.

Turner noted that family research has revealed he is the descendant of a woman named Lucy Turner, who was enslaved in the 19^th century and died in bondage serving under the most prominent Baptist leader in the state of Georgia. In March, Caleb Turner said he preached at an evangelism conference at the invitation of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

That contrast—the descendant of someone who lived in bondage who now preaches the freedom Christ offers to all—is a display of God’s divine providence and power, Turner said. It happened because of his obedience to God’s call.

“I wish Lucy could have witnessed it,” said Turner, the second African American to deliver the convention sermon at the SBC Annual Meeting, following Fred Luter of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in 2001. “I wish little Lucy would have known that my father [Terry Turner] would become the first African American to serve as president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. I wish my grandparents could bear witness to something they could never have fathomed in their lives but could only pray for and hope for their children and grandchildren.

“Before we leave from this place, we must lock arms with one another, unified in the mission God has called us to, holding fast to the words of Christ,” Turner concluded, “not for political or personal reasons, but because He came, He died, He rose, and [because] He still sits on the throne.”

SBC26: SBTC pastor calls CP ‘one of the most powerful tools for kingdom advancement’ during main-stage testimony

ORLANDO, Fla.—Caleb Fleming, senior pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Sherman, can pinpoint the moment he fully surrendered to the calling God had put on his life.

It happened one Sunday when a man came to speak at his church, Houston’s Sagemont Church, about the Cooperative Program.

Fleming shared a brief testimony about the Cooperative Program during the first day of the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting at the Orange County Convention Center. He spoke from the main stage during a portion of the meeting set aside to highlight the impact of the Cooperative Program.

Prior to that Sunday at Sagemont many years ago, Fleming said he had already surrendered to vocational ministry, but added, “I was willing to serve, but I wanted control. I was willing to preach, but I wasn’t willing to go. I was willing to obey, but only within my boundaries.”

Then the speaker at his church introduced him to the value of the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists’ primary giving model that supports international missionaries serving in some of the harshest mission fields on the planet, mobilizes church planters, trains students at the SBC’s six seminaries, and more.

What did he learn?

“[That it was] not a budget line, but a mission engine,” Fleming said. “Churches imperfect but scattered coming together for one purpose—the nations. For the first time, I saw it—something bigger than me, bigger than my church, bigger than my preferences, and God began to break my heart and my ‘no’ to the nations became a ‘yes.’”

Fleming now holds two degrees from Southern Baptist institutions and is finishing a Ph.D at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He said he has been blessed to train pastors in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and the church he pastors has now planted its first church through the North American Mission Board.

“Because of the Cooperative Program, I have been trained, I have been equipped, I have been sent,” Fleming said. “That doesn’t happen alone. It happens because we cooperate.”

Fleming noted that his church has made the decision to increase its Cooperative Program budget to 15% even at a time when the budget is tight.

“Why?” he asked rhetorically. “Because the mission of God matters. Brothers and sisters, we are not perfect. We are not uniform. We have differences, but this remains true: the Cooperative Program is one of the most powerful tools for kingdom advancement the church has ever seen.

“My prayer is simple: that the Lord would bless His church, provide the resources, stir our hearts, and that we would give—not casually or comfortably—but sacrificially so pastors are trained, churches are planted, and missionaries are sent out to the ends of the earth. … We can do more together than we could ever do alone.”

How does God multiply your church’s impact through Cooperative Program giving? Find out more at sbtexas.com/cp.

SBTC DR responds with prayer, personnel following ‘Stinky Fire’ in the Panhandle

POTTER COUNTY—The so-called “Stinky Fire,” a wildfire that started in a landfill just northwest of Amarillo on May 18, destroyed 52 homes and impacted or threatened another 325 residences, officials said.

“It was a sad day,” Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner said during a May 20 news conference. She implored citizens to “keep the prayers coming.”

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief volunteers quickly obliged with not only prayers but personnel.

Chaplains and assessors hurried to the area and by May 20 were serving in the field, assessing damages and offering comfort. The first recovery team, equipped to clear ash and debris, arrived by May 26. Administrative teams and work crews rolled in with a shower and laundry unit and heavy equipment, including a water tanker, skid steers, and a flatbed equipment trailer.

“The Church at Quail Creek in Amarillo did a phenomenal job of ministering in the days following the fires. They hosted our teams as well,” said Scottie Stice, SBTC DR director. Stice noted that DR volunteer Mike Brown, chairman of the deacons at the church, served as an incident leader, also known as a “white hat,” during the deployment.

Recovery teams completed the clearing and cleanup of 15 homes before the deployment ended June 6, Stice said. He added that SBTC DR volunteers made 84 spiritual and emotional care contacts with survivors, prepared and served 321 meals, completed 36 loads of laundry, and provided 64 showers, contributing more than 2,000 hours of service.

Beacon of hope

They helped people like a homeowner named Wes, who was at his residence as the fire reached his property, said Bobby Higgins, SBTC DR recovery crew leader.

While Wes’s home was spared, the fire burned a nearby outbuilding and crept toward his mother-in-law’s mobile home situated on the property. Wes drove the short distance to the mobile home, helping his mother-in-law to safety through smoke and smoldering flames.

“By the time he got her out, everything around them was on fire,” Higgins said. The mobile home and contents were a complete loss. “Crews had to cut the trailer in pieces to move it out. We pulled all the straps from the house trailer and pulled up all the poles as we cleared the burned property for them.”

Before it was removed, part of the structure’s frame resembled a tall cross, starkly juxtaposed against the broad Panhandle expanse.

“When I saw the cross frame, my first thought was, ‘When you think you have nothing left, there’s the cross as a beacon of hope,’” DR volunteer Carmele Porter said.

Wes, a local businessman, made repeated trips to haul debris stacked by DR crews to the dump.

“He was a super nice guy with a great attitude,” Higgins said. “We did pray with him a couple of times. He was extremely happy with what we did. He thanked us I don’t know how many times for coming out and doing the work.”

Other homeowners needed encouragement. One man stayed away from his property as crews cleared the damage. “He couldn’t stand to see it,” Higgins said.

Helping survivors recover from disaster and offering them hope are the reasons SBTC DR volunteers hit the field. A metal box recovered from the ashes of one Potter County residence—a decorative cross atop its lid untouched by the flames—symbolizes the motivations of all who choose to serve the survivors of disasters.

“We bring hope. We bring help. We bring Jesus … Jesus brings us,” Stice said.

To find out how you and your church can get involved with ministering to people in crisis through SBTC DR. visit sbtexas/com/disaster-relief.

Vision, Mission & Values: Getting the Language Right

Editor’s note: Anthony Svajda serves as pastoral ministries associate for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and leads its Regenesis church health and renewal process. This is the second in a three-part series on healthy churches. The previous installment can be found here.

“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” — Proverbs 15:22

Churches often talk about direction, but they rarely agree on the language. Terms like mission, vision, and values are used interchangeably, creating confusion rather than clarity.

This matters because language shapes strategy. If a church can’t name what it’s doing and why, it won’t know whether it is obediently pursuing God’s call.

We must define our terms and discuss how churches communicate. We do this by defining three common statement types churches use and then examining how these statements differ from a vision statement.

Value statements

In a church shaped primarily by value statements, conversations often revolve around culture. Leaders speak frequently about being welcoming, authentic, generous, or relational. When decisions are made, someone will ask, “Does this reflect who we are?” or “Is this consistent with our values?”

The experience on Sunday morning reinforces those priorities. Greeters are warm. Members linger in conversation. Hospitality is visible and sincere. When conflict arises, leaders appeal to shared values like unity or grace to restore harmony.

Yet when the church faces a major crossroads—such as declining attendance, a ministry plateau, or a changing community—values alone do not provide direction. People know what matters to them, but they are less certain about where they are going. The culture feels healthy, but the path forward feels unclear.

Doctrinal statements

In a church anchored primarily in doctrinal statements, theological clarity is central. Leaders frequently reference the church’s confession of faith. Teaching is careful and deliberate. When questions arise, members know exactly where the church stands biblically.

The experience in this congregation is one of stability and conviction. New members attend doctrinal classes. Sermons are rich in exposition. Unity is protected by shared theological commitments.

However, when leaders discuss the future, conversations often circle back to preserving belief rather than advancing mission. The church knows what it believes, but members may struggle to articulate how those beliefs translate into a specific direction for ministry in their context. Orthodoxy is strong, yet forward momentum can feel undefined.

Mission statements

In a church guided primarily by a mission statement, activity is central. The mission is printed on bulletins and banners. Leaders often reference it: “This is why we exist.” Programs are evaluated based on whether they align with the mission language.

The experience is one of energy and participation. Ministries are designed to fulfill action-oriented phrases like “make disciples” or “reach the lost.” People understand the general purpose and can repeat it easily.

Yet because mission statements are often broad and universally biblical, nearly every ministry fits underneath them. When new ideas surface, leaders struggle to determine what should take priority. The church is doing good things, but without sharper direction, it may find itself busy rather than strategically obedient.

It must be stated that these statements are not bad. If your church uses one or all these statement types, it is probably a good thing. However, vision can take your church further.

What true vision looks like

In a church guided by a true vision statement, there is a shared picture of who the congregation believes God is shaping them to become. Leaders speak not only about present ministries, but about the kind of church they are prayerfully becoming under Christ’s authority.

Conversations consistently connect identity, action, and destination. Members understand what the church is aiming toward and why certain priorities receive greater focus. Ministries are designed intentionally to move the congregation in that direction, not simply to maintain activity.

The vision is clearly rooted in Scripture and formed through prayerful discernment. Leaders seek not to invent ambition, but to discover where God is already at work and how He is calling this particular body to respond.

As a result, the church operates with clarity. Decisions align with identity. Efforts build toward a defined future. There is a growing sense that the congregation is not merely existing but becoming.

Without a clear vision statement, churches drift into comfort, pattern, and imitation rather than obedience.

Why language matters

In a church where language is clear, decisions become simpler. Leaders do not debate endlessly about preferences or personalities. They return to the agreed-upon direction. Every ministry, program, and outreach is weighed against the same question: Does this move us toward who God is calling us to become?

When direction is defined, focus follows. Some ministries gain renewed energy because they clearly align with the church’s calling. Others are reshaped or even released because they no longer serve that direction. Clarity removes unnecessary guilt from saying no and gives confidence in saying yes.

In a church where language is unclear, conversations drift. Meetings feel circular. Priorities compete. Good ideas multiply without cohesion. People grow busy, but not necessarily purposeful. Over time, the lack of shared direction quietly erodes momentum.

Language is not a cosmetic exercise. It forms expectations. It establishes guardrails. It determines how time, money, and leadership energy are stewarded. What a church consistently says about itself eventually shapes what it becomes.

When a congregation takes the time to clarify its language, it is doing more than refining words. It is aligning its identity and its future under the authority of Christ. And when calling is clarified, obedience becomes measurable.

Five questions to evaluate your church’s vision language:

Can our leaders clearly distinguish between our vision, mission, values, and doctrine without blending them together?  If language is confused at the leadership level, clarity will not exist in the congregation.
Does our vision describe who God is calling us to become, or does it only describe what we already do? Language that merely names activity often reveals comfort with the present rather than obedience toward the future.
Is our vision specific enough to guide decisions, or broad enough to avoid accountability? True vision creates boundaries. If every ministry fits under the vision, the vision is likely too vague.
Could a member explain our vision in plain language and connect it to Scripture?  Vision language that cannot be understood or biblically grounded will not be owned by the people.
When evaluating ministries, do we ask, “Does this align with our vision?” or do we ask, “Have we always done this?”  The language a church uses will determine whether it moves with purpose or remains trapped in repetition.

SBTC Collegiate Network Lead Team offers prospective planter connections, confidence

Cody Carroll is a church planting resident and former college director at Redeemer Church in Lubbock. He is also a member of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Collegiate Network Lead Team, which connects and resources college ministry leaders across the state.

What is it about the SBTC Collegiate Network Lead Team that compelled you to get involved and serve?

Cody Carroll: The heart behind the lead team is that you have college ministry representation from all over the state and from all these different regions because Texas is so big. Among those representatives are varying kinds and sizes and styles of college ministries that all speak into how we can help serve all the other local churches in the state that are trying to do college ministry. You get lots of opportunities to serve other ministries.

What does your involvement with the lead team look like?

What that looks like is, take an event like Roundup, which is a conference for college ministry leaders. Our team [at Redeemer] has had moments at Roundup that have totally transformed our ministry because of the questions being asked, because of the tear-sheet assignments we do, and because we’re really just getting in the room with people who aren’t in our normal circles. Being a part of the lead team, you get to help teach some of that, help set some of the vision for that. On the other side you have Commons, which is a conference for helping college students live on mission, so there’s lots of collaborative work there, lots of brainstorming with local church-based college ministries. A lot of it is just showing up and serving and connecting with other people.

You’ve recently answered the call to plant a church in Norman, Okla., and now serve Redeemer as a church planting resident. How far along is that effort?

Carroll: We’re launching in the fall of ’27, Lord willing. We’ve got some of our folks up in Iowa being trained, [our family is] moving in February, and we’ve already got a few different couples that have moved to Norman over the past few months with more on the way. We have a lot of folks who are raising support coming on our staff team. We’re aiming to launch with about 80 adults and kids. … There is incredible work being done in Norman, but there is so much more room for opportunity, so much more room for a multi-generational church to love the city and love the campus [the University of Oklahoma] as well.

How has your participation on the Collegiate Network Lead Team helped equip you for what God has next in terms of planting a church?

Carroll: Networks don’t plant churches—churches plant churches. But being part of the SBTC and being connected with people like Mitch [Tidwell, former SBTC collegiate team leader] and Drew [Humphrey, SBTC collegiate mobilizer] and all these different people … they might not be directly planting churches, but they’re connected with people who are. The beauty of being in a network like this … is that the SBTC helps us realize we’re not alone in this and they help champion us. Being connected in this network has absolutely helped us.

The Collegiate Network Lead Team is one of many networks available to SBTC church leaders. Want to find out more about how to get connected with leaders like you? Visit sbtexas.com/networks.

How to teach your toddler to pray

Editor’s note: Martha Harvey is a longtime children’s ministry leader and co-founder of WITH Families alongside her husband, Dallas. This article was originally published through Southwestern Seminary’s Equip The Called. It is being republished here with permission.

If you’ve ever tried to teach a toddler something, you know two things are true:

They are constantly learning.
They are constantly watching you.

Which is why teaching a toddler to pray doesn’t actually begin when they can say, “God is great, God is good.” It begins long before that. In fact, the foundation for prayer starts the moment life begins.

Yes—I’m talking about the womb.

Prayer begins before your child can speak

When we think about teaching kids to pray, we often imagine folding little hands and repeating simple bedtime prayers. But the truth is, the practice of prayer for toddlers begins long before they can talk. It begins in the rhythms of your home. It begins with your own prayer life. It begins with the way faith is lived out inside the walls of your house every single day.

Scripture calls us to this kind of everyday faith in Deuteronomy 6, talking about the things of God when we sit at home, when we walk along the road, when we lie down, and when we get up.

So if you want your toddler to learn to pray, the first step is simple (and maybe a little convicting): You need to be a pray-er.

When life begins and your baby is still growing in the womb, are you praying with your spouse? Are you in God’s Word? Are you singing songs of worship? Those moments matter more than you might think. Babies begin recognizing the voices of their mother and father before they are even born. They hear rhythms, tones, and patterns. And in a similar way, those spiritual rhythms begin forming the foundation of faith long before your child can understand them.

Babies are learning more than we realize

When that baby finally arrives and you hold them swaddled in your arms, you’re holding what might be the fastest-absorbing sponge on the planet. Think about it. In about a year, a baby begins to understand language and often says their first words. How? Because they are learning constantly. They’re absorbing everything around them:

Sounds
Faces
Colors
Tone of voice
Smells
Touch
Facial expressions
Emotional responses
Patterns and routines

All of it is building the foundations for language, motor skills, emotional awareness, and social development.

The same thing is happening with their faith formation.

Even when you pray in front of a 9-month-old (who obviously isn’t joining you in the Lord’s Prayer yet), they’re still learning. They might not understand the words, but they notice patterns.

I like to think something like this is going on in their little minds: “My mom and dad do this thing every day where they close their eyes and say words. Sometimes they hold hands. Sometimes they kneel. Sometimes they’re happy. Sometimes they cry. But every time they do it … something changes. There’s peace. There’s calm. And they do it a lot.”

OK, maybe that’s not their exact internal monologue. But I like to imagine it sounds something like that.

Because kids notice everything.

And when prayer is consistently modeled in the home, something powerful happens when that baby grows into a toddler. They want to join in.

Step 1: Teach the posture of prayer

Once toddlers begin participating, one of the easiest ways to teach them how to pray is through posture. Yes, we can pray anytime and anywhere. But there is also something beautiful about teaching children the reverence of coming before a holy God. Simple physical cues can help toddlers understand what’s happening.

You might teach them to:

Fold their hands
Bow their head
Close their eyes

These actions do two important things. First, they help a child focus. Second, they remind them who they are talking to.

Posture becomes a physical signal that says: We are about to talk to God. A holy, perfect, and mighty God.

Step 2: Teach them how to pray

As believers, we know we can pray anytime with whatever words we have. God hears our prayers. He knows our hearts. But helping children learn a simple pattern for prayer can give them confidence and direction. One of my favorite tools is the PRAY acrostic.

P — Praise
R — Repent
A — Ask
Y — Yield

Now, those words might sound big for a toddler, so we translate them into something simple. Here’s what that might sound like with a child:

Praise: “Let’s start by telling God thank you and praising Him for how great He is. What can we thank Him for?”

Repent: “Now let’s tell God we’re sorry for the things we’ve done or said that were wrong.”

Ask: “Let’s ask God to help us with things we’re worried about or pray for someone we love.”

Yield: “And now we tell God that we want to follow Him and live the way He wants us to. Let’s ask Him to help us do that.”

This pattern reflects the heart behind the prayer Jesus taught in Matthew 6:9-13. It helps children learn that prayer isn’t just a wish list. It’s a relationship.

Step 3: Be the encourager, not the critic

When toddlers begin praying, remember something important: They are talking to their Heavenly Father. And just like any loving parent, God delights in hearing from His children. So when your child prays, your job is to be the encourager, not the critic. That means celebrating their prayers no matter what they sound like.

Sometimes my own child tells me in the car on the way to school: “Mom, today I want to pray in my brain, not out loud.”

And my response? “OK, buddy, I’ll be quiet so you can talk to God. Just tell me when you’re done so I don’t interrupt.”

Then we sit quietly while he prays. Later I might ask, “What did you talk to God about today?” And sometimes I include those things in my own prayer out loud.

I also remind my kids of this truth: Saying prayers out loud doesn’t make them more heard by God. But it does encourage the believers around you. Honestly, some of the most beautiful (and sometimes convicting) prayers I’ve ever heard have come from my children. And I tell them that. Encouragement creates a safe space for prayer to grow.

Step 4: Build rhythms of prayer

Just like toddlers thrive on routine, prayer grows through rhythms. Think about the way preschools use picture charts for daily schedules. Kids feel confident when they know what to expect. Prayer can become part of that rhythm. Some natural moments include:

Morning Bible story and prayer
Prayers on the way to school
Prayer before meals
Family worship time
Prayer before bed

These everyday moments communicate something powerful: Prayer matters.

Your kids see that faith is lived out beyond Sunday church. And that’s a big deal.

Step 5: Use prayer cues in everyday life

One of my favorite ways to teach prayer is through what I call prayer cues. These are little reminders throughout the day that prompt us to pray. For example:

When we see an American flag, we pray for our nation.
When we pass a school, we pray for teachers and students.
If we see a car accident, we pray for the people involved.

Suddenly everyday life becomes filled with small invitations to talk to God.

Start where you are

If you’re feeling overwhelmed reading this, let me encourage you: You don’t have to get this perfect. None of us ever will. But you can start today. Start right now. Ask God to grow your own prayer life. Ask Him to create moments with your children where prayer naturally flows. Because just like Scripture reminds us in Matthew 12:34, out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. What we love most will eventually pour out of us. So my prayer for you isn’t that you perfectly teach prayer to your children.

It’s that you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And that out of that love, your prayers, your life, and your everyday moments become a beautiful billboard of faith for your children to see, learn from, and live out for themselves.

Everything is discipleship

When I was in high school, the Lord began stirring in my heart a desire to pursue vocational ministry. For me, that started in music ministry. I was heavily involved in my local church: there on Sundays, Wednesdays, camps, retreats, small groups—all of it. I loved the church and wanted to serve.

But honestly, I don’t think I really understood what was happening in those environments.

In my mind, Sunday mornings were times when we gathered to worship. Wednesday nights were for youth ministry and Bible study. Small groups offered connection with other people. Leadership opportunities were for learning how to serve. I saw all those things as important ministries of the church, but I didn’t really connect them to discipleship. I didn’t fully understand how those environments were shaping me spiritually.

Looking back now, I can see God was using every bit of it.

The worship gatherings were shaping my view of God. The preaching was forming how I thought about truth. Small groups were teaching me community and accountability. Older believers were modeling faithfulness and consistency. Serving in ministry was teaching me humility and dependence on the Lord. Even just being around the people of God week after week was forming me in ways I didn’t recognize at the time.

Fast forward more than 20 years into ministry, and I think very differently now.

I used to think of discipleship as one ministry among many. Now I believe everything the church does is discipleship.

The worship gathering disciples people. Life groups disciple people. Midweek ministries disciple people. Prayer gatherings disciple people. Evangelism training disciples people. Even the way a church communicates, organizes itself, and prioritizes ministries is shaping people spiritually.

Whether we realize it or not, churches are always forming people into something. That realization has changed the way I think about pastoral ministry. It has caused me to think less in terms of programs and more in terms of formation. Not just, “What are we offering?” but “What kind of people are we helping produce?”

That has become an ongoing conversation among our elders as well. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the purpose behind everything we do as a church. What is the purpose of the worship gathering? How should it shape our people? What is the purpose of life groups? Midweek ministries? What are we aiming for spiritually through those environments?

Those conversations have also forced us to identify areas where our people may not be growing as they should. If we see weak prayer lives, limited biblical knowledge, shallow community, or a lack of evangelistic boldness, we have to ask whether we are being intentional enough in how we are discipling people.

I think that has been one of the biggest shifts in my theology and ministry philosophy over the years—moving from seeing discipleship as a program of the church to seeing it as the mission underneath everything the church does.

I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve become increasingly convinced that it’s critical for churches to think carefully about how every gathering, every ministry, and every rhythm is shaping the people God has entrusted to them. Because whether intentional or not, we are forming disciples. The question is whether we are helping form people who increasingly look more like Jesus.

Churches are formulating outreach plans as World Cup draws closer

CONROE—The Church at 242 doesn’t have a lot of members who are soccer fans or who know much about the sport, according to its pastor, Dennis Parish.

That didn’t stop the church from jumping at the chance to get involved with a statewide outreach planned to coincide with the FIFA World Cup this summer.

“Our church is not a soccer church,” Parish said. “We don’t have a lot of folks who play soccer, but for us, the idea is to make connections with folks who do.”

The Church at 242 participated in one of two outreach trainings hosted in April by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The trainings provided churches with tools and training needed to conduct outreaches in the Dallas and Houston areas, where World Cup matches will be held in June and July.

The arrival of the World Cup has energized local fans, and officials are estimating more than 1 million people from around the globe will come to the Lone Star State to watch matches. It creates a unique opportunity to make a global gospel impact without leaving the state.

“People from every corner of the globe will be in Texas,” SBTC Missional Ministries Senior Strategist Tony Mathews said, “and churches have a rare opportunity to share the hope of the gospel face-to-face with those who might never walk into our buildings on a normal Sunday.”

Hosting a World Cup block party will allow The Church at 242 to connect with people in the rapidly expanding city of Conroe, where some sources have estimated a 40% population surge since the 2020 census. That has pushed the city’s population to well over 100,000 residents.

“We’ve got 6,000 new homes being built as fast as they can be built,” Parish said. “Two weeks ago, we connected with 19 new homes where people moved in just over the past three weeks. I met a family that had just moved here from Coppell, but they’re from Africa. I met a man who just moved here from Hershey, Penn. The world is coming to us, and we just have to be ready.”

Parish added that church members plan to use the new GOAL evangelism tract developed by the SBTC to share the gospel with block party attendees.

Farther north, Genuine Faith Community Church in Greenville is among the churches planning an evangelistic soccer camp. Church members have been learning how to start spiritual conversations and how to use the one-verse evangelism method to share the saving message of Christ. As a follow-up, camp attendees and their families will be invited to participate in a Bible school at the church later this summer.

“There is an excitement here,” said Mark Bird, a member at Genuine Faith who is heading up the effort to host a soccer camp. “It’s all been very positive, and that’s a good thing.”

Mathews said it’s not too late for more churches to get involved with the effort to host or participate in a World Cup outreach. Interested churches can:

Explore training videos and browse evangelistic resources at the SBTC Resource Webstore to begin shaping a World Cup outreach project.
Connect with an SBTC regional project manager who can walk alongside your church, whether you’re planning your own event or partnering with another church, by emailing tmathews@sbtexas.com.
Complete an interest form to get started. Indicate your interest in a missional grant on the form if your church would like additional support for outreach efforts.

SBTC Executive Board advances proposed Constitution and Bylaws amendments to messengers

GRAPEVINE—In August 2025, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) Executive Board authorized the creation of a special Constitution and Bylaws Review Committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the convention’s governing documents. The committee was charged with reviewing the documents in their entirety to ensure the convention’s polity and affiliation requirements are clearly stated, particularly regarding the office and title of pastor.

The committee consisted of Denny Autrey (chairman), Deron Biles, Dalia Gonzales, Jason Gray, James Jordan, Amy Joslin, Aaron Kahler, Averri LeMalle, and Spencer Plumlee. SBTC Executive Director Nathan Lorick and Executive Director Emeritus Jim Richards served as nonvoting, ex officio members.

The SBTC has a longstanding practice of periodically reviewing and updating its constitution and bylaws, with the most recent revisions adopted in 2020. These reviews help ensure that the convention’s governing documents remain clear and effective.

“It has been an honor to chair this committee to review and update the SBTC constitution and bylaws,” Committee Chair Denny Autrey said. “Our diverse team was diligent in their efforts to bring greater clarity to our governing documents by reinforcing our commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture, as well as providing language to produce a spirit of unity among the churches within the SBTC and for those churches that desire to affiliate with the SBTC.”

After months of study, discussion, and prayer, the committee presented its recommendations to the SBTC Executive Board. On April 28, 2026, the Executive Board unanimously approved the proposed amendments at its spring meeting and voted to recommend them to messengers at the 2026 SBTC Annual Meeting, to be held in October at First Baptist Church Forney. The proposed amendments include procedural and operational updates, as well as clarifying language. All proposed changes have received legal and parliamentary review.

A few areas of focus include:

Affiliation Qualifications: The proposed language for Article IV, Section 1, Item (d) of the constitution “affirms the office, function, ordination and title of pastor/elder/overseer to be limited to men as qualified by Scripture. Title shall include any equivalents of the words pastor/elder/overseer, and preaching to the assembled congregation shall be an exclusive function of pastor/elder/overseer or biblically qualified men.”
Representation at Meetings: The amendment grants every affiliated church at least two messengers for any convention meeting, while churches that contribute through the Cooperative Program or to SBTC ministries during the current calendar year can receive up to eight additional messengers (for a maximum of 10).
Termination of Affiliation: The proposed language clarifies three options for affiliation termination, including an avenue for termination by the messengers available only after the Executive Board termination process. Written notice for a motion to terminate a church’s affiliation is required. The “Challenged Church” is given an opportunity to respond. If adopted, the matter is placed on the agenda for the following annual meeting.

The complete proposed amendments to the constitution and bylaws can be found here.

To provide further clarity and instruction to the Credentials Committee, the Executive Board authorized the development of an operating guideline containing affirmations and denials to establish the intent of the proposed affiliation qualification amendments.

“On behalf of the Executive Board, I wholeheartedly affirm the recommendations from the Constitution and Bylaws Review Committee,” Executive Board Chairman Wes Hinote said. “We are grateful for the prayerful and diligent work of the committee in bringing forward these recommendations with clarity, conviction, and faithfulness to Scripture. We also want to recognize the faithful service of the Credentials Committee, whose work through the years has helped strengthen and support our convention. As the Credentials Committee continues to work graciously with churches seeking or maintaining affiliation, I believe the proposed revisions provide much-needed clarity and consistency as we move forward together in cooperation and doctrinal unity. I am very thankful for Dr. Autrey, Dr. Criner, and the committees they lead for the time and effort supporting our convention.”

Amendments to the SBTC Constitution require approval by a two‑thirds vote of messengers at two consecutive annual meetings, whereas bylaws amendments may be approved by a two‑thirds vote at a single annual meeting. To allow both constitutional and bylaws changes to take effect simultaneously, the Executive Board will recommend that, if approved, bylaws amendments be held in abeyance during the first year and implemented following final constitutional approval at the second annual meeting.

“I am grateful for the spirit, unity, and diligence this committee has demonstrated in bringing forward these proposed changes,” SBTC Executive Director Nathan Lorick said. “In today’s cultural climate, clarity is essential, and these changes provide our convention with a meaningful opportunity to continue moving forward in doctrinal unity, strengthening our shared missional focus. I am encouraged and excited about what God has in store for the SBTC.”

The proposed amendments to the constitution and bylaws will be printed in Issue 4 of the Texan magazine, scheduled for release in June.