June 17, 2002
___ SBC registration below 10,000. The trend toward smaller attendance at Southern Baptist Convention annual meetings continued this year, with 9,609 messengers registered for the June 11-12 meeting in St. Louis. That's 48 people more than registered at the 2001 meeting in New Orleans but still low by standards of recent decades. Last year's total was the second-lowest attendance in 28 years and the lowest for a Southern city in 58 years. When the SBC last met in St. Louis, in 1987, registration totaled 25,607. Although the SBC has met in St. Louis numerous times, the last time messenger registration there was lower than this year was in 1947, when 8,508 registered. Among this year's messengers were 568 Texans, the sixth-largest representation among states.
___ SBC preacher named. O.S. Hawkins, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Annuity Board, was elected June 12 to preach the convention sermon at next year's SBC annual meeting. Simon Tsoi, retired pastor of First Chinese Baptist Church of Phoenix, was named the alternate preacher. Todd Bell, minister of music at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, was elected convention music director.
___ Land expands his territory. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has added more airtime to his duties. In addition to hosting a 30-minute radio show called "For Faith & Family," Land now will be featured on a Saturday afternoon radio program called "Richard Land Live!" The new program will be aired from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time over the Salem Radio Network.
___ SBC adopts lower budget. The Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program budget for the 2002-03 fiscal year will be $176.9 million, a decrease of more than $1.3 million from the current year. The decrease mirrors a $1.3 million drop in undesignated Cooperative Program giving during the 2000-01 fiscal year. Designated giving, however, grew by $6.8 million last year--attributed in large measure to changes in the way the Baptist General Convention of Texas sends money to SBC causes.
___ SBC elects nominating committee. Two Texans are among 70 Southern Baptists from 35 state Baptist conventions elected to serve on the Southern Baptist Convention's committee on nominations. The committee nominates people to serve on the SBC's boards, commissions and committees. Hollie Miller of Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., will serve as chairman. Texans elected to the committee are Reagan Cooksey of Northside Baptist Church in Huntsville and Jerry McPeak of Wilshire Park Baptist Church in Midland. Cooksey's church is uniquely aligned with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. McPeak's church is uniquely aligned with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___ CBF plans seminary reunions. When the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship meets in Fort Worth later this month, participants for the first time will be invited to attend reunions for alumni of Southern Baptist Convention seminaries. The simultaneous reunions will be held June 27 at 11:30 a.m. and will be followed by a joint luncheon. For luncheon reservations, contact Beth Sampsel at (770) 220-1637 or bsampsel@cbfnet.org. Hosts for the unofficial alumni get-togethers will be Russell Dilday, Southwestern Seminary; Larry McSwain, Southern Seminary; Randall Lolley, Southeastern Seminary; Bill Pinson, Golden Gate Seminary; Joe Trull, New Orleans Seminary; and Milton Ferguson, Midwestern Seminary. A reunion for alumni of newer CBF-affiliated schools will be hosted by Terry Hamrick.
___ Texan to chair Executive Committee. Gary Smith, pastor of Fielder Road Baptist Church in Arlington, was elected chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee June 10. Smith's church is uniquely aligned with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
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