2. The Southern Baptist Convention
† Formed on May 8, 1845 in
Augusta, GA
†Largest Protestant
Denomination
† 16 Million Members
† Over 45,000 Churches in all
50 states
3. The Southern Baptist Convention
† Dedicated to Crossing Barriers
† Over 200 Language Groups are represented
Evangelical Arabic Church, Antioch, TN Twin Cities Hmong Baptist Church
4. Basic Convictions
† Southern Baptists have 3 basic convictions:
† 1. Lordship of Jesus Christ
† 2. Authority of God’s Word
† 3. Devotion to Missions
5. SBC Membership
† Foundation is the local congregation
† Membership in a Southern Baptist congregation:
† 1. Salvation
† 2. Believer’s Baptism by Immersion
6. SBC Congregations
† Autonomous
† Set own budget
† Call own pastors
† Follow God’s direction for ministry
† Evangelistic
† Living and sharing the Gospel
† Voluntarily join with other congregations
† Doing more together than we can apart
7. Organizational Structure
A local congregation is affiliated with three areas of
Baptist organized life: association, state convention, and
national convention…. The Southern Baptist Convention
is not over the state conventions or the associations. All
are as autonomous as are the congregations. These three
bodies are on the same level organizationally, and all are
made up of messengers sent directly by their
congregations…
James L. Sullivan, Baptist Polity: As I See It, Revised Edition
(Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 67.
8. Congregations Working Together
Association State Convention Southern Baptist
Convention
Fellowship among local Fellowship with Baptist Fellowship with all SBC
Baptist churches churches in the state churches
Coordinated ministry and Coordinated ministry and Coordinated ministry and
evangelism on local level evangelism on state level evangelism on national
and international level
Fellowship, Joint Ministry Fellowship, Joint Ministry Fellowship, Joint Ministry
Accountability Accountability Accountability
Disaster relief: Disaster relief: Disaster relief:
Volunteer training and Coordination of teams Logistics and support
equipment
10. SBC Structure
† The SBC is
North
structured as a American
church
Convention planting
† This allows us to in a
nightclub
join together in a
wide range of
ministry
opportunities at Prison
the same time ministry
in
Thailand
11. The Annual Convention
† 2-Day Session
† Congregations choose messengers to attend
† One messenger from every contributing
congregation in friendly cooperation
† One additional messenger for every 250 members
or $250 contributed to
work of the Convention
† Maximum 10 messengers
per congregation
12. The Annual Convention
† Evangelistic opportunities (Crossover) and
Pastor’s Conference precede the convention
meeting.
13. The Annual Convention
† Congregations large and small are represented
† Each Messenger has a voice
† Messengers
† Join together in prayer, praise and worship
† Elect officers
† Pass resolutions
† Hear reports from entities