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FLINT—The torch has officially been passed. Or rather, the mantle has been placed.
The first day of the 2021 Southern Baptists of Texas Convention annual meeting ended with a ceremonial placing of the mantle from its outgoing executive director, Jim Richards, to his predecessor, Nathan Lorick.
Richards, who will continue to serve the SBTC as executive director emeritus, and Lorick each delivered sermons during the evening. Richards urged messengers to press on for the sake of the gospel, holding fast to biblical integrity and the cooperative spirit that undergirds Southern Baptist work. Lorick urged messengers to unify and seek the presence of God together, saying the greatest tragedy in the SBC is “not statistical, but spiritual.
“The greatest tragedy in the SBC might be that we have a generation that has never experienced the manifest presence of God together,” he said. “…Don’t let our generation serve and never experience a powerful move of God together.”
On deck for today
Though Monday was a relatively light day, messengers will conduct the remainder of business today. The last opportunity to introduce motions will be this morning shortly after 9, and messengers will consider the Resolutions Committee Report at 3:15 p.m.
Kie Bowman, senior pastor of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, will deliver the President’s Message at 11:10 a.m. Messengers will consider the election of Bowman’s successor, Todd Kaunitz of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Longview, later in the day.
Other sermons today will be delivered by Joe Lightner, president of Jacksonville College; Lakan Mariano, senior pastor of College Hills Baptist Church in San Angelo; and Ed Johnson III, pastor of Harvest Fellowship Baptist Church in DeSoto. Lorick will provide the closing challenge and lead a prayer service with Matt Boswell leading worship to close out the evening.
Panels, panels everywhere …
Four panels will be offered throughout the course of the day. A “Persecution of the Church in America” panel moderated by Texas Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Chairman Nathan Loudin will be held at 10:25 a.m. on the main stage. Three panels will follow at lunchtime: “Keeping the Basic: Evangelism and Prayer” (CLC); “After Covid: Rebuilding the Pastor and the Church” (Kids Center); and “The Church & Worship: A Conversation with Matt Boswell” (Lighthouse Building). The panel with Boswell will be offered during Session 1 only, while the other two will be offered both at 12:15 p.m. and 1:10 p.m.
By the numbers
On the registration front, there are 777 registered messengers and 168 registered guests for a total of 945 people. Of the registered messengers, 639 pre-registered online. There are 326 total churches represented at the annual meeting.
