ST. CHARLES – Messengers representing churches affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) are gathering Oct. 24-26 at the St. Charles Convention Center for their 182nd annual meeting.
The theme is “Never Alone,” taken from Deut. 31:6, where Moses assures the Israelites, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (ESV)
Neil Franks, MBC president and lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Branson, and MBC Executive Director John Yeats, address the convention on Monday evening. Ronnie Ratliff, pastor of Tenth Street Baptist Church in Trenton presents the annual sermon Tuesday morning.
Steve Gaines, newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, Tenn., is the headline speaker on Wednesday.
The FBC Branson Worship Team, along with Danny Dukes and Candi Pearson-Shelton, lead worship throughout the event.
During business sessions, attendees hear reports from the convention’s executive board, staff, committees and agencies. In addition, J.D. Payne, pastor for church multiplication with The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala.; K. Marshall Williams, senior pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church in Philadelphia; and Daniel Sangi Im, director of Church Multiplication for New Churches at LifeWay Christian Resources, are featured speakers at the CORE Conference.
Through music and insightful and interactive teaching, CORE encourages Missouri Baptists to make disciples, multiply churches, and develop leaders.
MBC President Neil Franks presides over the annual meeting. Local churches elect messengers to the convention; the messengers in turn select a new slate of officers and vote on other business matters.
All sessions are open to the public. Follow convention activities on Twitter (@mobaptists) and be sure to include #mbc16 in your Twitter and Facebook postings.
In addition to the reports, messengers introduce, debate and vote on motions, or actions they wish the convention’s executive board, staff, committees, or agencies to take. They also may introduce, debate, and vote on a variety of resolutions, which express the opinion of messengers on particular issues.
The annual meeting begins with pre-session music at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 24 and concludes with the benediction at noon on Oct. 26. The Missouri Baptist Pastors’ Conference also is held at the St. Charles Convention Center from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 24.
Complete details are available at mobaptist.org/annualmeeting.