Reflections on the 2026 Southern Baptist Convention

Last week, the Southern Baptist Convention gathered in Orlando. As in previous years, I wanted to offer some reflections on the annual meeting. I share these in no particular order.

I was disappointed at the outcome of the presidential election, but I wasn’t surprised. My disappointment isn’t any sort of knock on Willy Rice. Rather, it is an acknowledgement that I voted for my good friend and fellow Taylors First Baptist Church pastor, Josh Powell. If you know me at all, this should come as no big shock, since I broke with my normal practice by formally endorsing Josh for the presidency the day after his nomination was announced.

I wasn’t surprised that Willy won. He is the pastor of a large church who is especially popular with other pastors. He launched his campaign in the fall of 2025, and he advocated a platform; both moves were unprecedented. It remains to be seen if the success of this strategy influences the shape of future presidential elections. He preached at the pre-convention the Pastor’s Conference, which historically has given candidates a late-hour boost. But the most important factor, by far, is that there were more than twice as many messengers from Florida (2,160) than the next closest state (see the image below). That is some major home-field advantage! So, congratulations to President Rice. I’ll be praying for you a lot in the coming days.

I was honored to complete my final turn as SBC Recording Secretary. While I regret that Leah was unable to join me one more time because of her health, my 19-year-old daughter, Georgia, was an eager and able assistant. We had a great time together. Congratulations to Travis Kerns on his election as the next Recording Secretary. The baton should be easy to pass since Travis is the associational mission strategist for the Three Rivers Baptist Association, of which Taylors FBC is a member. Travis’s office is literally a seven-minute drive from my office at North Greenville University. My final act as Recording Secretary will be editing the 2026 Southern Baptist Convention Annual, which should be available in August.

The Resolutions Committee did excellent work, not only in the crafting of the resolutions themselves, but also in how they presented and defended them from amendments that would’ve either changed the intent or tried to position them as part of some political movement within the SBC. You can read all eleven of the adopted resolutions on the SBC website. Kudos to my good friend (and still my NGU colleague for another two weeks!) Hunter Baker, who chaired the committee. I know some folks are ambivalent or even negative about the SBC adopting resolutions, but I continue to believe this is important for the convention to go on the record about important matters of faith and practice—especially those being discussed in the wider culture.

Registration Secretary Don Currence, the most popular man in the SBC, was delightful as always. I thoroughly enjoyed casting the convention’s vote for him one last time. Second Vice President Craig Carlisle, the second most popular man in the SBC, was elected First Vice President. I told Craig he will always have my support for whatever he runs for; I’m a guaranteed vote. I’ll miss hanging out with both of them on the platform next year. The same goes for the parliamentarians, with whom I love to work. Also, shout-out to my fellow South Carolinian Bryant Sims, who did a great job chairing the Committee on Order of Business.

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The IMB Sending Celebration was, as always, the highlight for most of the messengers in attendance. It was followed closely by the IMB, NAMB, and Send Relief reports and presentations. This is why the SBC exists: “for eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the denomination for the propagation of the gospel.” But another great highlight this year was the standing ovation that Danny Akin received at the start of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary report. Besides my parents, no other individual has had as profound an impact on my life over the past nearly quarter century than Dr. Akin. I’ll write more about this as he comes closer to his official retirement at the end of July. Dr. Akin is a godly man and stellar leader, and the ovation was much-deserved.

I was very pleased with how the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission fared in Orlando. There were no moves to defund the commission. There was a lot of traffic at the ERLC booth, and those who came by were excited by the resources being provided. The One Nation Under God event was very well attended. RaShan Frost knocked it out of the park in his “TED Talk” (it was a short sermon), and the panel went great. The folks I talked to are genuinely excited that Evan Lenow is the new ERLC President and are hopeful for the future of the commission. Everyone agrees that Gary Hollingsworth has exemplified trust-building statesmanship during his interim presidency.

Al Mohler’s “Truth and Unity” amendment has probably been the topic that has made the most news—both leading up to, and following, the annual meeting. The amendment passed with a nearly 75% vote. Since it is a constitutional amendment, it will need to be approved by at least a 2/3 vote next year as well. I suspect that will happen, though it will be interesting to see the various arguments for and against it during the next twelve months. There are still folks who think the implications of the amendment are unclear, and at least potentially problematic, as well as others who want the SBC to embrace a more overtly patriarchal position. I think the former group is smaller than it was four years ago. I think the latter group is tiny, but has an outsized voice on social media.

Here is what is clear. The Baptist Faith & Message has affirmed a complementarian view of church leadership since 2000. When Southern Baptists have addressed this issue in recent years, 90% have affirmed complementarianism as a condition for friendly cooperation. Southern Baptists have also gone on the record celebrating the truth that God calls women to numerous ministry leadership roles. Don’t believe the hype, which is being promoted by both rightwing activists and progressive voices: Southern Baptists aren’t becoming more conservative on the issue of women in pastoral ministry. This is a debate about how best to apply our settled convictions to the matter of cooperation.

Two other reflections, both of which are more adjacent to the annual meeting. As in recent years, a real highlight was the South Carolina Baptist Convention (SCBC) event on Monday night. Tony Wolfe and his team did a great job, as always, with this new and increasingly popular tradition. I’m a huge, over-the-top champion of state Baptist conventions. And the SCBC is a really healthy convention that is marked by a spirit of trust and cooperation, and very little tolerance for Baptist bull hockey. Very little of the drama that attaches itself to the SBC trickles down to the state convention, primarily for two reasons. First, we all actually know each other, so even the pastor your disagree with on some things is a real person and not some figure “out there,” somewhere, who is easy to dehumanize as the bad guy. Second, Southern Baptist social media isn’t taken very seriously by the vast majority of South Carolina Baptists. Baptists in the Palmetto State are a happy lot, and I’m so thankful to be part of the family.

Finally, a word about North Greenville University. I was able to spend some time at our booth on Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon, and it was absolutely hopping. We had a constant stream of engaged alums, prospective students and their families, and other friends old and new. Our Friends and Alumni event on Tuesday night was a smashing success. Like the South Carolina Baptist Convention, who is our most important ministry partner, NGU is a healthy, happy place. It is a joy to be part of the North Greenville faculty.

ERLC has published a short book titled One Nation Under God: Reflections on 250 Year on Faith and Democracy (Leland House, 2026). The editor is RaShan Frost. I contributed a chapter titled “The Christian Mindset in a Secular Culture,” which applies some of the wisdom of Carl Henry to our contemporary society. You can download a free electronic copy of the book online at the ERLC website.

Last week, Christ and Culture published a short essay that Leah and I co-authored about her cancer journey. In actuality, Leah wrote 80% of it. I just made a couple of suggestions and then added some thoughts at the end. The title says it all: God’s Grace in the Midst of Cancer. If you read Leah’s Substack, you’ll notice a lot of familiar notes in the essay. We’re thankful that our friends at the Center for Faith and Culture at Southeastern Seminary asked us to write on the topic.

Speaking of Leah’s cancer, today was her tenth of twelve planned chemo infusions. We received some test results that confirmed the treatments are continuing to work. Side effects are always hard, but the last infusion was way better than the previous three in that respect. We’re praying this one is also relatively mild over the next few days. I’d love for you to pray for that as well. Lord willing, Leah will ring the bell on July 13, and be declared cancer-free a few days after that. Until then, we continue to move forward one day, one week, one treatment at a time, entrusting her care to the Great Physician and the medical professionals whom he has gifted for such a time as this.