What Happened, Why it Matters, and How to Move Forward
The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is an interesting event, to say the least. On the one hand, it is a gathering primarily concerned with the churches and members of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). On the other hand, its decisions have far-reaching implications, drawing scrutiny from secular outlets such as The New York Times. The world is quite literally watching. And so is the Lord.
For those of us who attended the 2025 meeting in Dallas, the debates over abolishing the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), the (Law) Sanchez Amendment, and financial transparency raised many questions. My friend Marc Minter summarized several concerns in a recent X post.
I admit, I left with frustration, but as I drove home yesterday and today, preparing our church’s devotional on Christ’s “Humility in the Incarnation,” I reflected on these events.
In light of our Savior’s example, I offer this perspective on what happened, why it matters, and how we can move forward in unity.
Why We Gather
The SBC unites autonomous churches for missions, addressing budgets, entity performance, and doctrinal clarity. Yet, at the 2025 meeting, only 6,518 of 10,599 registered messengers—about 61%—voted on abolishing the ERLC, a significant issue. As pastor Marc Minter asked on X, “Why didn’t more messengers vote on the big issues?”
This low turnout suggests that many view the meeting as a networking event rather than a critical moment to shape our cooperative mission. I believe this reflects a lost focus on our purpose. The convention’s many ancillary events, from luncheons to workshops, foster connection but often overshadow the business at hand.
Human nature tends to lean toward avoiding confrontation, preferring fellowship over debate. Most people will seek to avoid conflict, especially when we have to face it head-on. Most people would rather hang out and talk than listen to different sides of an issue and debate it. We, including myself, are prone to cowardice and laziness.
Barriers to Engagement
Many messengers seem to struggle to grasp the depth and significance of the issues debated at the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, such as the Sanchez Amendment, which sought to amend the SBC Constitution to ensure only men serve as pastors or elders, or Rhett Burns’ proposed amendment to the Business & Financial Plan on increased financial transparency.
For example, the Law-Sanchez amendment failed with 60% support, falling short of the two-thirds needed, amid warnings from SBC Executive Committee president Jeff Iorg about legal risks—warnings many are calling misleading.
Similarly, 43% of messengers voted to abolish the ERLC, reflecting distrust in its leadership under Brent Leatherwood, who many would say dismisses valid criticism. These issues, while not directly changing many of our churches’ Sunday worship, shape our collective witness and trust.
This lack of awareness often stems from the demanding schedules of pastors, who comprise most of the messengers. Preparing for the annual meeting requires significant effort to study resolutions, amendments, and their broader implications—a task that many of us often lack the time for amid our church responsibilities. For example, I missed a critical nuance in the marriage and family resolution until a faithful brother proposed an amendment, which passed overwhelmingly. I was thankful for his diligence, but also convicted by my own lack of preparation.
The parliamentary process adds another layer of complexity, with its rules and procedures, which are often unfamiliar to messengers, leading many to rely on platform leaders’ summaries rather than diving into the issues themselves.
The sheer volume of issues—ranging from doctrinal clarifications to financial decisions, such as the SBC’s $187.5 million Cooperative Program budget—can overwhelm even the most dedicated messengers. Without a clear understanding of how these decisions shape our cooperative mission, many opt out of voting or debate, as seen in the low turnout of 6,518 out of 10,599 messengers for the ERLC vote. This lack of engagement is a key source of frustration to many of us.
Moments of Unity
While there is much to complain about when returning home from the SBC annual meeting, there is also much to be thankful for. We may disagree on some crucial issues, but the reality is that there is considerable agreement on others.
We all want the gospel to be spread throughout the world. I cheered and cried with many when we prayed for the missionaries being sent out into the world.
Getting to meet with and talk to so many of you who attended and being able to have civil disagreements warmed my soul in a way that is hard to put into words. I am relatively new to the SBC and initially saw little value in keeping our church affiliated with it. However, the more I have met you, especially within the Pillar Network, the more these annual meetings have encouraged me to continue participating in the conversation. I am thankful for the clear witness from the Convention on the subjects of marriage, chemical abortion, and pornography.
These moments remind us that, despite disagreements, our mission to proclaim Christ remains strong.
A Call to Humble Action
At this point, you might be wondering why I took the time to write all this down. There are a couple of reasons.
First, I want to appeal to my brothers and sisters in the SBC to act in a spirit of humility toward one another. Disagreements will always be present. Personally, I have many disagreements with how things happened. For example, I disagree firmly with the idea that potential legal repercussions from clarifying an issue in our constitution should in any way dissuade us from adding it. Quite the opposite, actually; I believe that we should count ourselves blessed to be worthy of suffering for the name of Christ and His Word. I believe that we need some serious changes in the ERLC. I believe that greater financial transparency increases trust, rather than lessening it.
With that said, how we disagree says a lot about us. Are we reflecting love for one another in Christ by making accusations about someone’s intentions? Do we take the time to think about what we post online before we do it? To be clear, I am not saying that we should not call people out when they have made mistakes, but I am saying how we do that matters.
My hope for my own personal ministry, Training Expositors, is to help local churches raise up faithful, God-honoring leaders in the church. In the end, my prayer for the SBC—and for each of us as we reflect on these gatherings—is that we would embody the humility of Christ, who, though He was God, did not cling to His rights but served others in love (Philippians 2:5-8).
Let us disagree with grace, engage with courage, and labor together with a renewed focus on our shared mission: to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth. As we return to our churches and communities, may we commit to raising up faithful leaders who will carry this work forward, not for our own glory, but for the name of Christ.
I hope to see local churches strengthened and the SBC refined, so that together we might reflect the unity and truth of our Savior to a watching world.
Editor’s Note: This is a lightly edited version of an article originally published at Training Expositors.
