DALLAS (BP) – Messenger pre-registration and childcare registration for the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting in June is available starting Monday, Feb. 3. Based on the hotel reservations already made through the SBC housing system, messenger totals this year could reach upwards of 15,000.
The last time the Convention met in Dallas was 2018 when 9,632 messengers attended. At that time, it was the largest annual meeting since 2010 in Orlando. However, since 2021, attendance has dipped below 10,000 only once – Anaheim in 2022 with 8,133 registered messengers. In 2021 in Nashville, 15,726 messengers were in attendance. New Orleans was host to 12,781 messengers in 2023, and 10,946 messengers attended in Indianapolis this past year.
“We are anticipating another large gathering of Southern Baptists this year in Dallas,” Jonathan Howe, SBC Executive Committee vice president for convention administration told Baptist Press. “With more than 1,500 Southern Baptist churches within a two-hour drive from Dallas, we are excited about the potential of a large drive-in crowd each day and have been working with the local associations and both Texas state conventions to encourage pastors and laypeople to make the annual meeting a priority this summer. Couple that with the large number of hotel reservations already made, and we will have quite a crowd in June.”
Hotel reservations for the event opened in October, and more than 18,000 room nights have been reserved so far. Many Dallas-area hotels are fully booked, but room availability is being added weekly.
To pre-register messengers from your church, you will need:
- Your church’s SBC ID number
- Your church’s total undesignated receipts for the previous SBC fiscal year – Oct. 1, 2023 through Sept. 30, 2024
- Your church’s total giving to Convention causes for the same timeframe. This would include Cooperative Program giving, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering giving, Annie Armstrong Easter Offering giving and any other giving to national entities of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Also opening Monday will be childcare registration for kids up to age 12. Giant Cow will be returning once again to provide care for both preschoolers and elementary age children. This year’s Giant Cow theme, Legend of the Feast, a culinary adventure like no other, is based on the story of the prodigal son. Youth on Mission will not be offered in 2025.
For more information on hotels, registration and childcare, visit sbcannualmeeting.net.