If you cannot go to the SBC, you can watch it on livestream on your computer or phone. I did this last year. I had it on my computer in my office or at home anytime the convention was in session. I was a little bummed that I didn’t get to go but there are advantages to doing the livestream.
Back in 1985, I watched one of the first livestream (it wasn’t called that then) of the SBC in Dallas while I was an employee at SWBTS. We had to walk to a particular building that had a “hook up” to the convention hall. We didn’t have internet in our offices so I’m not sure how it worked but I saw Charles Stanley and Winfred Moore on stage in the presidential election. I have been privileged to attend the SBC most years but now in the years that I don’t, I watch remotely. I’ll post a link right here in a special blog post when I get one but you can always check sbcannualmeeting.net.
You can have a more comfortable experience watching it from afar than you have in the convention hall. You have a more comfortable chair and don’t have to stand in line to use the restroom during convention breaks. I watched last year and invited a coworker into my office during several pivotal points of business debate to watch with me. The downside is you don’t get to vote or see anyone in person.
The Southern Baptist Convention is a denomination that most SBC churches cooperate and participate with sbc.net. If you don’t know if your church is a member or not, ask a minister or look on your church website. The SBC has been in existence since 1845 and cooperates with other like-minded churches to do missions, theological education, and other ministries together. Most churches give either a percentage of all gifts or give set amounts through the year.
As a member of a Southern Baptist Church, you can participate in the missions avenues through the denomination and attend one of their schools and receive a special lower tuition rate. The missionary journeyman program, career mission program, long-term volunteers—all will require that you are a member of a cooperating Baptist Church.
As a minister of education, I must peruse a lot of curriculum on my job because I have to know what is being taught in each class or group. The existence of LifeWay allows me to cut that job down considerably since it is checked theologically for biblical content. We use other publishers, but it takes time to look through it to insure that the content is within our biblical beliefs and interpretation.
During the annual meeting, it is the only time the SBC exists as a group. It must conduct its convention-wide business during this meeting and otherwise operate through its’ bylaws, trustees, and elected staff. Its’ biggest entities are the International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, seven seminaries in the USA, LifeWay, and Women’s Missionary Union.
The SBC has influenced my life positively in a huge way and I care about it. That is why I go to the meeting because I know that they need people in the seats that keep up with what is happening and care that it continues to operate in a solid healthy way. I grew up in an SBC church, attended a Baptist College, was a summer missionary, attended a Baptist Seminary (SWBTS), taught as an adjunct in two more (GBTS & NOBTS). My husband and I were appointed missionaries at the old Home Mission Board back in 1987 before it became NAMB. My husband worked on staff there for 22 years in various positions and was a journeyman with the IMB (then FMB) before that. We are Christians and we are also Southern Baptists.
The fact that I am a Southern Baptist is not more important than my faith. There are no denominations in scripture. However, it helps us find sister churches, keep faithful to scriptural beliefs, and increase our impact by working and cooperating together. If you are a Southern Baptist, tune it in and watch some of the reports. You will be amazed and what your denomination undergirds. Preceding the convention there is a Pastor’s Conference on Sunday evening through Monday. You can hear some wonderful sermons there. The meeting takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday and tries to stay on a schedule (June 11-12, 2019). Every entity gets a time to report to the convention and all can take questions from the floor. There are microphones set up over the large hall so that anyone can access one. Attenders are called messengers and are not told by their churches how to vote but represent their church and vote their conscience. That is why they are not called delegates. Each church can have up to ten messengers depending on how much monetary support they give.
If you are unfamiliar with the Southern Baptist denomination and are a member of one of its’ churches, I urge you to tune it in. The entities are all run on a trustee system. The trustees are appointed by the convention and voted on at the SBC. These trustees are important in that they represent the people as they provide oversight for our institutions and entities. Through the years, it has been interesting to me to watch the trustee system which at times can look like a rubber stamp but then at other times will rein in an entity or institution that has lost focus or is in financial struggle. There are real world problems as we tackle the Great Commission together in the Southern Baptist Convention.
By the way, Baptists also cooperate with sister churches, in local associations throughout each state, and in state conventions. In Alabama it is alsbom.org. We give to our churches who give a percentage to them and we also receive back resources, support, and help. It is a great cooperative effort that we should not take for granted.
Tune in.
