Tuesday night from Indianapolis
The 151st Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention was called to order by the President, Dr. Frank Page, with the drop of the gavel that has been used to open EVERY one of the Convention meetings since it’s inception. The gavel was presented to the first President, M.E. Dodd, of Shreveport, LA. It is said to be carved from olive wood taken directly from the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem. Wisely, Dr. Page didn’t hit the podium very forcefully with the old gavel!
It has been a long and interesting day that began with Jay, and Bobby Wood leaving at 7:00 AM for the airport to pick up three members of the Gaither Vocal Band. (who IS Jay Adkins?????). The Vocal Band was scheduled to sing about 8:30, during the morning session. Bill Gaither was not with them, as he was staying here in the hotel where we are residing. The Vocal Band did a terrific job, and they were well received by the crowd. They sang several southern gospel selections with tight harmonies that seemed to resonate well with the crowd. There was lots of toe tapping and hand clapping, as they sang several favorites. The theology was a little suspect in one of the songs called, “I’m Somewhere Between Jesus and John Wayne”, but overall it was a good start to the morning.
A number of motions were offered during three or four new business sessions through out the day – nothing real controversial, but some were interesting, nonetheless.
One of the highlights of the day came early in the day when the results of the “Crossover Indy” activities of last week were revealed. Thousands of houses in neighborhoods all over the city were visited by volunteers, sharing the gospel with anyone who would listen. 17 Block Parties were held with over 2,300 registered attendees and 500 volunteers. The result – 759 decisions for trusting Jesus Christ as Savior! Pretty good results for a blitz that was cut a couple of days short due to the terrible rains and flooding.
The State Convention Executive Director shared with us that 80% of the residents of Indiana have no relationship with any local church!
Jay and I had lunch today at a luncheon sponsored by Upward Unlimited. Johnny Hunt was the featured speaker and we got to meet Caz McCazlin (Upward’s founder and CEO). We were challenged by Caz and Johnny Hunt to reach our communities for Christ through Upward. The challenge was not to just have a “church league” but to use Upward to reach our communities for Christ. Speaking of Johnny Hunt, the Georgia Pastor was elected as our new President with 52% of the vote. This was fantastic, considering there were six candidates nominated, and no runoff election was necessary. First Vice President went to Dr. Bill Henard, Pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, KY.
Reports were given by the heads of various SBC agencies today, including Drs. Richard Land ( of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission); Phil Roberts, (Midwestern Seminary); Jeff Iorg (Golden Gate Seminary); Chuck Kelley (New Orleans Seminary); Thom Ranier (LifeWay); Paige Patterson, (North American Mission Board); and Morris Chapman (Executive Committee). Interspersed with these reports were several seasons of prayer, a number of special music and congregational praise, and challenges based on the themes of “Understanding God’s Plan”, “Engaging God’s People”, and “Sharing God’s Message”. The organizers and presenters of this convention never got off task in seeking to keep the focus on Jesus.
We also heard Dr. Frank Page’s Presidential Message.
7,290 messengers have registered, and the convention center is abuzz with activity. We had opportunity to visit again with many old friends like Joed Rice and Dan Russell (pictured he
re) Ric Frazier, and Jim Yates and his family from Rose Hill Church in Ashland, KY. Even said hello to A.J. Toney, who followed me at Ashland Baptist five years ago. He is in South Shore, KY now. Today was an interesting day…
We should have more of the same tomorrow.
The 151st Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention was called to order by the President, Dr. Frank Page, with the drop of the gavel that has been used to open EVERY one of the Convention meetings since it’s inception. The gavel was presented to the first President, M.E. Dodd, of Shreveport, LA. It is said to be carved from olive wood taken directly from the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem. Wisely, Dr. Page didn’t hit the podium very forcefully with the old gavel!
It has been a long and interesting day that began with Jay, and Bobby Wood leaving at 7:00 AM for the airport to pick up three members of the Gaither Vocal Band. (who IS Jay Adkins?????). The Vocal Band was scheduled to sing about 8:30, during the morning session. Bill Gaither was not with them, as he was staying here in the hotel where we are residing. The Vocal Band did a terrific job, and they were well received by the crowd. They sang several southern gospel selections with tight harmonies that seemed to resonate well with the crowd. There was lots of toe tapping and hand clapping, as they sang several favorites. The theology was a little suspect in one of the songs called, “I’m Somewhere Between Jesus and John Wayne”, but overall it was a good start to the morning.
A number of motions were offered during three or four new business sessions through out the day – nothing real controversial, but some were interesting, nonetheless.
One of the highlights of the day came early in the day when the results of the “Crossover Indy” activities of last week were revealed. Thousands of houses in neighborhoods all over the city were visited by volunteers, sharing the gospel with anyone who would listen. 17 Block Parties were held with over 2,300 registered attendees and 500 volunteers. The result – 759 decisions for trusting Jesus Christ as Savior! Pretty good results for a blitz that was cut a couple of days short due to the terrible rains and flooding.
The State Convention Executive Director shared with us that 80% of the residents of Indiana have no relationship with any local church!
Jay and I had lunch today at a luncheon sponsored by Upward Unlimited. Johnny Hunt was the featured speaker and we got to meet Caz McCazlin (Upward’s founder and CEO). We were challenged by Caz and Johnny Hunt to reach our communities for Christ through Upward. The challenge was not to just have a “church league” but to use Upward to reach our communities for Christ. Speaking of Johnny Hunt, the Georgia Pastor was elected as our new President with 52% of the vote. This was fantastic, considering there were six candidates nominated, and no runoff election was necessary. First Vice President went to Dr. Bill Henard, Pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, KY.
Reports were given by the heads of various SBC agencies today, including Drs. Richard Land ( of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission); Phil Roberts, (Midwestern Seminary); Jeff Iorg (Golden Gate Seminary); Chuck Kelley (New Orleans Seminary); Thom Ranier (LifeWay); Paige Patterson, (North American Mission Board); and Morris Chapman (Executive Committee). Interspersed with these reports were several seasons of prayer, a number of special music and congregational praise, and challenges based on the themes of “Understanding God’s Plan”, “Engaging God’s People”, and “Sharing God’s Message”. The organizers and presenters of this convention never got off task in seeking to keep the focus on Jesus.
We also heard Dr. Frank Page’s Presidential Message.
7,290 messengers have registered, and the convention center is abuzz with activity. We had opportunity to visit again with many old friends like Joed Rice and Dan Russell (pictured he
re) Ric Frazier, and Jim Yates and his family from Rose Hill Church in Ashland, KY. Even said hello to A.J. Toney, who followed me at Ashland Baptist five years ago. He is in South Shore, KY now. Today was an interesting day…We should have more of the same tomorrow.
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