Staff Writer
ORLANDO, Fla. – Missouri ranked 13th in the number of registered messengers attending the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., June 15-16.
Some 295 Missouri Southern Baptist messengers attended, according to preliminary figures released by SBC Registration Secretary Jim Wells, director of missions, Tri-County Baptist Association, Nixa.
The number of Missouri Southern Baptists attending this year was down slightly from the 354 who attended the 2009 annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., but up from the 293 who attended the 2008 meeting in Indianapolis.
Among those leading the Missouri contingent to Orlando were Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director David Tolliver and his wife, Myra, and MBC President Bruce McCoy, pastor, Canaan Baptist Church, St. Louis.
Overall, this year’s unofficial messenger count was 11,070, compared to last year’s 8,790, Wells told Baptist Press.
“It’s a great place to have a convention,” Wells said. “That definitely helped draw people in. It was a good cross-section of people. I think Johnny Hunt’s leadership brought in some younger folks, but attendance was up across the board.”
If the unofficial count holds, this year’s messenger tally will be the third-highest total in recent years and the highest since 2006:
• 8,790 in Louisville (2009)
• 7,277 messengers in Indianapolis (2008)
• 8,630 in San Antonio (2007)
• 11,639 messengers in Greensboro, N.C. (2006)
• 11,641 total in Nashville (2005)
In Orlando, host state Florida tallied 1,886 messengers this year, a huge jump over last year’s 393, and 600 more than the next-largest delegation – Georgia with 1,266.
The registration process “went very smoothly,” Wells said. He praised the participation of collegiate volunteers from Baptist Collegiate Ministries in Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina. About 80 percent of messengers pre-registered online.
As for next year in Phoenix, Wells said he is anticipating a dip in attendance.
“That’s a long way away for a lot of people,” he said.
The unofficial state-by-state messenger registration numbers are as follows: Alaska, 16; Alabama, 869; Arkansas, 332; Arizona, 30; California, 117; Colorado, 49; Connecticut, 5; Washington, D.C., 12; Delaware, 8; Florida, 1,886; Georgia, 1,266; Hawaii, 16; Iowa, 27; Idaho, 11; Illinois, 207; Indiana, 143; Kansas, 64; Kentucky, 670; Louisiana, 298; Massachusetts, 3; Maryland, 127; Maine, 2; Michigan, 59; Minnesota, 12; Missouri, 295; Mississippi, 447; Montana, 10; North Carolina, 829; Nebraska, 8; New Hampshire, 6; New Jersey, 20; New Mexico, 38; Nevada, 39; New York, 52; Ohio, 169; Oklahoma, 285; Oregon, 2; Pennsylvania, 41; Puerto Rico 13; Rhode Island, 1; South Carolina, 630; South Dakota, 1; Tennessee, 868; Texas, 529; Utah, 10; Virginia, 361; Vermont, 8; Washington, 12; Wisconsin, 10; West Virginia 87; Wyoming, 15.
Official totals for the 2010 annual meeting will be available at the end of June, Wells said.