September 14, 2024
DALLAS (BP) – Preparations are underway for the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting. The volunteer group preparing the way for Southern Baptists is holding a kickoff rally Thursday, Aug. 22, in Fort Worth.
“The SBC Annual Meeting takes hundreds of volunteers to pull off. From those helping in registration, praying in the prayer room, and greeting at the doors, each volunteer is needed to make for a smoothly run meeting,” said Jonathan Howe, SBC Executive Committee vice president for communications.
One of the highlights for the 2025 meeting will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program (CP).
The Aug. 22 meeting will feature encouragement from SBC President Clint Pressley, SBC Pastors’ Conference President D.J. Horton, and SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg among others.
There were 10,946 messengers registered at the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.
In addition to messengers, 3,132 guests and 2,740 exhibitors registered for the 2024 meeting, bringing total attendance to 16,818. Messengers hailed from all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, representing 3,988 churches.
“We want every Southern Baptist church to be represented at the Annual Meeting each summer,” Howe said. “As it stands only about 10 percent of churches send messengers right now. That’s up 50 percent from where it was five years ago, but it’s still not where we want to be.”
Preparing in advance is key for churches sending messengers and guests to the annual meeting.
“We encourage churches to plan ahead, budget to send messengers and join us in our cooperative work next June,” said Howe.
Essential dates for SBC 2025:
After initial planning meetings, Howe expects the Lone Star state to live up to its reputation.
“I’m excited for our friends in the Dallas area to prove how ‘everything is bigger in Texas’ and show up to make this one of the biggest and best annual meetings we’ve had in recent memory,” he said.
The 2025 SBC Annual Meeting and Pastors’ Conference is set for June 8-11 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.
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This article was first published by Baptist Press.
