Article on Southern Baptist Convention
June 13 and 14 2006
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June
13 and 14 we, Paul and Joanna Kelley, attended the one hundred
forty-ninth session of the Southern Baptist Convention in Greensboro, NC
and this was our first time to do so. This year it was held in the
Greensboro Coliseum Complex which just happens to be 15 minutes from our
son's home. We would encourage every Southern Baptist to attend at least
one convention.
In 2007 it will be in San Antonio, TX, 2008 in Indianapolis, IN and 2009
in Louisville, KY and hopefully many of you will be able to attend that
one.
On June 11 and 12 was the Pastor's Conference and on June 12 was the WMU
conference.
There were over 11,000 registered messengers to the SBC but when you add
in guests, vendors, program participants, media, children and others
they estimated there were probably close to 15,000 in attendance for the
three conferences.
We were extremely impressed with the outgoing president, Bobby Welch.
Each year when you read about the convention in the secular press it
sounds like a lot of disagreement and confusion. Even when Mr. Welch
had to disagree with a messenger or rule someone out of order it was
done in a loving manner. There was a Certified Professional
Parliamentarian and two other parliamentarians always available to
advise Mr. Welch on how to proceed in order to be within Roberts' Rules
of Order and the constitution and bylaws of the Southern Baptist
Convention and all of its entities. There was always legal counsel
available as well to advise as to how to proceed if necessary.
Every order of business was allowed a certain amount of time and if
additional time was needed then the convention had to vote to allow this
additional time or we moved on to the next item on the agenda.
The following officers were elected for
2006-07.
Frank Page, pastor from SC was elected president and his church gives
over 12% of all undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program.
1st Vice President - Jimmy Jackson, pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church
in Huntsville, AL
2nd Vice President - Wiley Drake of CA
Recording Secretary - John L. Yates, Director of Communications for the
Louisiana Baptist Conventions and he has held this position for several
years.
Registration Secretary - Jim Wells, Director of Missions in Nixa, MO who
has held this position for several years
On Tuesday morning President Bush addressed the convention by video. On
Wednesday morning Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, addressed the
convention. She received a standing ovation upon her entrance, seven
standing ovations during her speech, and another one on her departure.
As she was leaving the stage the audience spontaneously started singing
God Bless America and it brought tears to your eyes. We were very
impressed with her and what she had to say.
At each session they had several choirs to bring special music and on
Wednesday night it was the largest choir they had had and the choir
members came from 43 churches in five state and there was over 1,000
choir members. Awesome.
On Tuesday morning the session started at 8:00 AM with a break for lunch
of about an hour and a supper break of about an hour and didn't end
until almost 10 PM. Lots of sitting but very enjoyable and
enlightening.
On
Wednesday the morning session was from 8 till noon then the afternoon
was free and the evening session was from 6 till almost 10 again.
The highlight of the Wednesday session was the dedication of the Billy
Graham bronze sculpture. It was created by Rev. Terrell O'Brien a
missionary who serves in Wyoming. The sculpture is a 7 foot tall Billy
Graham with outstretched arms with a Bible in his hand and a 17-foot
tall cross. At the foot of the cross are three nails and a stone
inscribed with John 3:16. The sculpture will be moved to downtown
Nashville where it will be permanently displayed. The sculpture is
entitled, "There's Room at the Cross For You." There representing the
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was Cliff Barrows. Giving the
dedication prayer was William F. Graham IV, pastor of Wakefield Baptist
Church in Wake Forest, NC who is the son of Franklin Graham and the
grandson of Billy Graham.
Joanna
