By Baptist Press Staff PHOENIX (BP) -- The program for the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting has been released. The meeting will convene at the Phoenix Convention Center Tuesday, June 13, at 8:15 a.m. and conclude Wednesday, June 14, at 4:55 p.m. A full schedule follows. TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 13 8:15 -- Opening worship -- Mark Blair, Convention music director; music minister, Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, Tenn. 8:25 -- Welcome and call to order -- Steve Gaines, SBC president; senior pastor, Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, Tenn. Announcement of Committee on Committees, Credentials Committee, Tellers, and Resolutions Committee 8:30 -- Scripture and prayer -- Grant Gaines, senior pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Jackson, Tenn. 8:35 -- Registration report and Constitution of Convention -- Jim Wells, SBC registration secretary, Crossway Baptist Church, Springfield, Mo. 8:38 -- Committee on Order of Business report (First) -- Rod D. Martin, chairman; founder and CEO, The Martin Organization, Destin, Fla. 8:43 -- Appreciation of Phoenix volunteers -- Steve Gaines 8:45 -- Welcome to Phoenix -- Noe Garcia, pastor, North Phoenix Baptist Church, Phoenix, Ariz. 8:50 -- Honoring America … [Read more...]

By Tom Strode PHOENIX (BP) -- Messengers and other participants in the Southern Baptist Convention's June meeting will be able to run to help feed the hungry. A coalition of Southern Baptist organizations is sponsoring the Global Hunger Relief Run June 14, the second day of this year's convention meeting in Phoenix. All registration fees for the event -- which includes a 5K race and a one-mile, family oriented fun run -- will be used to feed the hungry in the United States and throughout the world. Global Hunger Relief (GHR) is a partnership of seven Southern Baptist entities that collaborate to address hunger needs in the world. The Cooperative Program's support of SBC entities enables 100 percent of the gifts received by GHR to be used in hunger projects implemented by Southern Baptist missionaries and partners. Eighty percent of those funds are used overseas through the work of the International Mission Board (IMB) and Baptist Global Response (BGR). The North American Mission Board (NAMB) distributes the other 20 percent of the money with the supervisory help of the Baptist state conventions. Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), commended GHR and the effort in … [Read more...]

By Brian Hobbs/Oklahoma Baptist Messenger PHOENIX (BP) -- The Baptist Messenger recently sat down with renowned evangelist and pastor Greg Laurie, who has been holding Harvest crusades, which are large-scale evangelistic outreach events throughout the United States and abroad, since 1990. In the interview, Laurie talks about the upcoming Harvest event scheduled for June 11 in Phoenix. The event will be held in conjunction with the Crossover evangelism events leading up to the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting on June 13-14. See interview with Laurie below. The Harvest America evangelism event coming to Phoenix, Ariz., will be held in conjunction with the SBC's annual meeting. You have teamed up with the SBC and the North American Mission Board to promote this Harvest America event. For our listeners who might be unfamiliar, can you talk about this outreach event and tell us what it is all about? Laurie: Kevin Ezell, who directs the North American Mission Board, came to us with the idea of Harvest Ministry to join forces, because we are all passionate about evangelism; we want to reach people. The problem for a lot of folks is how to get out there and do it. You know, a lot of folks come in from around … [Read more...]

By Shawn Hendricks and David Roach PHOENIX (BP) -- As this year's Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting approaches, SBC President Steve Gaines says fellow Baptists should anticipate emphases on prayer, evangelism and financial stewardship at the June 13-14 gathering in Phoenix, where the 2003 and 2011 annual meetings also were held. This year's annual meeting theme is "Pray! For such a time as this" based on Luke 18:1 and Esther 4:14. Gaines hopes that through a commitment "to fervent, frequent, faith-filled prayer," the SBC will become "a catalyst for spiritual awakening and revival." "I believe Southern Baptists can be used of God to spark a mighty movement of prayer, evangelism and discipleship across our nation and around the world," said Gaines, pastor of Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn. "If we will pray and abandon ourselves to the Lord, He will use us exponentially to take the Gospel to people." In addition to several seasons of prayer, Gaines said, annual meeting highlights will include a personal evangelism emphasis Tuesday evening (June 13) led by California pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie and a Wednesday afternoon (June 14) panel discussion on financial stewardship. Southern … [Read more...]