SBC Annual Meeting 2023

JUNE 13-14

This year, MERCYhouse will be sending five messengers to represent our church at the SBC’s Annual Meeting.

The Annual Meeting is available to be viewed via livestream in the link below.

Relevant Links

Below you will find all of the official resources provided for the Annual Meeting.


Live Updates

June 14, 6:04pm

The 2023 SBC Annual Meeting has concluded. After two days, we the messengers are generally very encouraged by what was reported and celebrated. Important moments from the day include:

  • All three appeals for their disfellowship were denied with the original recommendation by the Credentials Committee sustained. Fern Creek, Freedom Church, and Saddleback are confirmed as not being in friendly cooperation with the SBC (91.85%, 96.4%, and 88.46% ballot margin, respectively).

  • An encouraging and moving report by the ARITF which was well received. Their recommendation to extend the ARITF for an additional year was overwhelmingly supported. The Task Force, which has met every other week since September of 2022, opened by stating the end goal of their efforts: “To make SBC Churches across America the safest places on earth for you, your families and your children to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached.” This was met with widespread applause. We highly recommend that members watch the ARITF Report via the livestream link, including the ensuing discussion and closing prayer.

  • When questioned by Abortion Abolitionists, all SBC leaders and seminary leaders rejected the extreme view that any women who have had abortions should be tried for murder.

  • All remaining resolutions were passed with no amendments.

We the Messengers will now begin preparing a formal report for our members to be presented at our next Summit Meeting on Sunday, June 25th at 4:00pm. We are thankful to have had this opportunity and look forward to relaying in greater detail everything that has happened.

Signing off— Tommy, Kaitlyn, Noreen, Vika and Matt


June 14, 8:25am

Day two has kicked off. The Wednesday Bulletin is available here. Details of Tuesday’s proceedings are listed on page 5 including each motion that was made.

Notable matters of interest today:

  • 8:43 - Election of Second VP

  • 9:05 - Convention Sermon, Todd Unzicker, Executive Director-Treasurer, Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

  • 10:05 - Previously rescheduled ARTF Report

  • 10:55 - Adoption of remaining resolutions

  • 2:45 - Election of Recording Secretary, Registration Secretary

  • TBD - Election results (Disfellowship Appeals, First VP)


June 13, 7:18pm

The first day has concluded! It was filled with reports, amendments, motions, resolutions and voting. Notable highlights include:

  • Burt Barker retained his office as President of the SBC with a 68% vote against challenger Mike Stone

  • The first 6 resolutions presented were passed and the rest will be presented tomorrow.

  • 79 Missionaries were comissioned and sent to over 40 nations.

  • Over 35 new motions were submitted.

  • Appeals by Fern Creek, Freedom Church and Saddleback to their disfellowship we're made and ballots were cast. The results are pending.

  • New Vice President ballot was cast. Results are pending.

  • ARTF Report postponed by messenger vote until tomorrow morning due to time.

It was an overall encouraging day and we are glad to have the opportunity to be here. Thank you, MH!

Recommendations for people following along:

  • Read the Tuesday Bulletin linked below.

  • Listen to the President's Address using the Livestream link above.

  • Check out baptistpress.com for official coverage.


June 13, 8:32am

We’ve officially begun the business meeting. The Tuesday Bulletin has been made available to us and can be accessed here.

Of specific interest to many of our members will be the Abuse Reform Implementation Taskforce Report and Recommendations on page 12. The Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force will present their report at 5:00pm and you can watch using the Livestream link above.

Also of interest would be the Matters Referred by the Convention by the Executive Committee from the 2022 Annual Meeting on page 18.


June 12, 4:36pm

We arrived at the SBC Messenger’s Orientation and received, “Navigating the SBC” which can be read here digitally. It’s a helpful guide for understanding what the SBC is and a great start for those who are wondering, “why are we even a part of the SBC?” This relatively brief document includes practical explanations of the SBC structure, the interactions of the local church, affiliations and other helpful pieces of information.

It’s recommended that our members take the time to read through this document to better understand our affiliation. In particular, as we ask the question of how we can be “more engaged” with the SBC, page 18 lays out some steps to “Maximize Your Voice” which will be a helpful framework for us moving forward.

June 12, 2:13pm

Kaitlyn and I (Tommy) are in attendance of the Pastor/Pastor’s Wife Conference being held ahead of the Annual Meeting. This time includes preaching, teaching and worship. You can follow along and watch using the livestream link above.

We will spend the day today listening to preachers and preparing for the annual meeting which will run from 8am-5pm the next two days. The whole team will be arriving later today and we will attend the Messenger Orientation at 4:45pm. We’ll send another update at the end of today with any additional information we receive.

Pray for us as we acclimate and prepare!

- Pastor T


Feedback / Contact

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact Pastor Tommy and the messengers using the form below.