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SBC exhibits: new leaders, conversation & fun
Baptist Press Staff
May 20, 2019
13 MIN READ TIME

SBC exhibits: new leaders, conversation & fun

SBC exhibits: new leaders, conversation & fun
Baptist Press Staff
May 20, 2019

Southern Baptist leaders once again will have much to talk about at this year’s Cooperative Program (CP) exhibit hall booth during the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham, Ala.

Photo by Samuelle Grove

Southern Baptist entity leaders, left to right, Jon Akin, Danny Akin, Jarvis Williams and Dhati Lewis discuss race relations in the SBC during a panel discussion at the Cooperative Program stage in the exhibit hall of the 2018 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas.

Among the topics at the CP Stage and Platform are everything from adoption, the sexual abuse crisis and church revitalization to the new movie, “Overcomer.” The exhibit hall area of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex will be open June 10-12.

The booths will also feature discussion on missions and the future of the SBC between Southern Baptist leaders. Among those speakers will be SBC President J.D. Greear and entity presidents Paul Chitwood, International Mission Board; Kevin Ezell, North American Mission Board; and Ronnie Floyd, SBC Executive Committee. Specific topics of discussion will include the “Who’s Your One?” evangelism campaign, encouraging college students to be on mission, church planting and vision for the SBC and more.

“With new leaders at the helm of three of our entities … we will take the opportunity to focus on the future of these organizations and the vision of their leaders,” C. Ashley Clayton, SBC Executive Committee vice president for CP and stewardship, said.

“Our programming will also include conversations about some of the challenges that Southern Baptists have faced and are currently facing,” Clayton noted, “such as racial reconciliation and other ethnic diversity issues, women having a more prominent role in ministry and how to prevent sexual abuse in our churches.”

The CP platform will be located between the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board exhibits.

A full three-day schedule of the events, which begin at 8:30 a.m. daily, is available at TalkCP.com and the SBC mobile app and will be listed in the annual meeting’s daily bulletin.

Also slated for the exhibit hall:

International Mission Board

At the IMB’s interactive exhibit, attendees can help fund a translation of the New Testament and pray for the 500,000 people in Southeast Asia who will have an opportunity to read the scriptures in their language for the first time. Nearly 3,000 languages still have no translation of scripture. Visitors also will receive resources to help lead their churches to participate in international missions through going, praying and giving.

North American Mission Board

“Who’s Your One?” That’s what the North American Mission Board will ask visitors at its exhibit at the annual meeting. Those who stop by will be able to learn more about NAMB’s “Who’s Your One?” evangelism resources. These resources include a kit that pastors can use to lead their entire congregation through the evangelistic emphasis. Pastors will also be able to record a video they can later use to challenge and mobilize church members to choose someone with whom they will share the gospel.

In addition to featuring an emphasis on its evangelism resources, NAMB’s exhibit will include a Send Network area where visitors can learn more about how their churches can be actively involved in church planting or how they can take the first steps toward becoming a church planting missionary.

A Send Relief area in the exhibit will focus on NAMB’s compassion ministries including foster care and adoption, crisis response and ministry centers that focus on poverty, human trafficking, immigrant ministry and more.

Another section of NAMB’s exhibit is dedicated to collegiate mobilization featuring the new GO2 initiative and GenSend.

LifeWay Christian Resources

LifeWay Christian Resources’ 20,400-square-foot exhibit will offer a store containing a wide selection of books, Bibles, small group studies and other Christian products. Among the exhibit’s other features:

  • LifeWay Groups Ministry staff will help messengers plan and select appropriate materials for group Bible studies. Attendees can learn more about LifeWay’s ongoing studies: Bible Studies for Life, The Gospel Project, Explore the Bible and SmallGroup.com, as well as short-term Bible studies.

  • Messengers and guests can obtain information about two Tuesday-evening screenings of “Overcomer,” the latest film from the Kendrick Brothers. “Overcomer” church campaign and Bible study kits will be available in the LifeWay store for purchase. See related story.

  • Pastor and author Robby Gallaty, along with his wife, Kandi, will sign copies of their respective books, Here and Now and Disciple Her. The book signing is scheduled for June 11 from 9:30-10:30 a.m.

  • In addition to their exhibit space, LifeWay will also be featured in the SBC women’s expo. Messengers and guests can learn more about Woo Marriage, a marriage coaching tool to help church leaders guide marriages in their congregations back to health.

LifeWay staff will be available at the Woo Marriage booth to answer questions June 10 from 8-10 a.m. and 12-2 p.m., and again on June 11 from 9-11:30 a.m.

Kandi Gallaty also will be available to discuss her book Disciple Her and the Disciple’s Study Bible in the women’s expo area immediately following her Tuesday morning book signing in the LifeWay exhibit.

Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Visitors to ERLC’s booth in the exhibit hall can pick up the latest issue of Light Magazine on International Christian Persecution. This issue focuses on the plight of believers in countries throughout the world who faithfully seek to shine the light of the gospel in the darkest places.

Booth visitors also can register to win an ERLC ministry resource pack featuring the most recent books from ERLC authors and other resources to equip you and your church to engage the culture with the gospel. Each pack will also include two complimentary registrations to the 2019 ERLC National Conference “Caring Well: Equipping the Church to Confront the Abuse Crisis.” Speakers include Russel Moore, Beth Moore, Rachael Denhollander, Gary Haugen, J.D. Greear, Jackie-Hill Perry, and many more.

GuideStone Financial Resources

GuideStone will once again make available the popular Wellness Center June 10-12 during the SBC Pastors’ Conference and the SBC annual meeting. Personal health assessments will be available during the sessions each day the exhibit hall is open, Monday and Tuesday until 6 p.m. and until 1 p.m. Wednesday. The free assessments – valued at $150 – provide a report suitable to take to participants’ family doctors. The wellness screening offers blood-based screenings for cholesterol and glucose.

GuideStone staff will be available during all exhibit hall hours to meet with participants about their retirement accounts or to speak about insurance coverage.

A free two-part giveaway of coffee and a coffee mug (while supplies last) is available, with the first part at the GuideStone Property and Casualty display and the second part at the nearby Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company booth, with which GuideStone has an alliance to provide property and casualty coverage and education.

Mission:Dignity Sunday – June 23 on the Southern Baptist calendar – arrives shortly after the Convention. Attendees can request free promotional materials at the GuideStone booth, by visiting MDSunday.org or by texting MDORDER to 41444 from a mobile device*.

While supplies last, participants can also pick up a free copy of both The Christmas Code: Daily Devotions Celebrating the Advent Season and The Easter Code: A 40-Day Journey to the Cross. The short devotions, written by GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins, have been effectively used by hundreds of churches for evangelistic outreach during the Advent and Lenten seasons. Additionally, messengers can pick up a free copy of The Joshua Code: 52 Scripture Verses Every Believer Should Know, while supplies last. All author royalties and proceeds from sales of the books benefit Mission:Dignity.

Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention

Gateway Seminary’s exhibit booth will focus on its role as Southern Baptists’ seminary in the West, with five campuses located in North American Mission Board Send cities. Gateway will continue its 75th anniversary celebration at its annual alumni and friends luncheon after the morning session of the SBC annual meeting on Wednesday, June 12. The event will take place on Level 3, Room Forum J in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. President Jeff Iorg will report on the seminary’s reaccreditation by the Western Association of Senior Colleges and University Commission and progress by Gateway Online. In addition, the seminary’s distinguished alumni award winners will be presented. Tickets are $10 each. Seating is limited and can be reserved at gs.edu/sbc19.

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Guests visiting Midwestern Seminary’s exhibit booth at the convention will receive limited-edition giveaways. More details about the giveaways to come. Guests can also receive a promo code to waive their application fee until June 26. Admissions team members will be ready to answer questions about Midwestern Seminary’s opportunities for training in ministry and missions. Purchase tickets to the For the Church Birmingham Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 11, for $15 and tickets to Midwestern’s Alumni & Friends Luncheon at noon Wednesday, June 12, for $20. During the Tuesday luncheon, SBC leaders Ronnie Floyd, Paul Chitwood, and Kevin Ezell will join seminary president Jason Allen for a panel discussing “The Future of Southern Baptist Ministry and Mission,” while the Wednesday luncheon will feature panelists Allen, Micah Fries, Dean Inserra, and Collin Hansen as they discuss “Cultural Christianity and The Gospel.” Early bird pricing for events is available through June 8; register online at mbts.edu/sbc2019.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

The New Orleans Seminary exhibit booth offers a chance for alumni and prospective students to connect with faculty members to learn about the school and the city of New Orleans. The booth will feature a new campus-themed design which provides a perfect backdrop for student and alumni social media photos. Throughout the annual meeting, cartoonist Joe McKeever, an NOBTS alumnus, will provide complimentary sketches at the booth. Visitors may also stop by for seminary literature and giveaways, including specially-designed ceramic mugs. Members of the seminary enlistment team will be on site to guide future students as they seek to answer God’s call to ministry and prepare for service.

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

At this year’s Southeastern Seminary exhibit, visitors will have the chance to learn more about what it looks like to be equipped to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission. This year’s exhibit will include the Spring edition of Southeastern Magazine, featuring the For the Mission campaign. For the Mission is a four-year campaign with four strategic initiatives focused on the campus, faculty, students and cause of the school. Campaign funding will go toward a new dining hall, renovations for campus housing, student aid, the Southeastern Fund and faculty endowments. President Danny Akin, Chuck Lawless, Julia Bickley, Ronjour Locke, Tate Cockrell and Jim Shaddix are among the many faculty one can expect to interact with while visiting the exhibit.

Southeastern’s exhibit will also feature a number of book giveaways, including The Gospel of Our King by Bruce Ashford and Heath Thomas, Islam and North America by Keith Whitfield and Micah Fries, multiple volumes from the Christ-Centered Exposition series and more. Visitors can learn what it means to have a theologically-developed and biblically-informed foundation while pursuing the ministry to which God has called them by checking out the Southeastern Seminary exhibit.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Throughout the annual meeting, Southern Seminary’s exhibit booth will offer a variety of giveaways providing resources for pastors. One giveaway is a new resource by SBTS Press, Essential Reading on Evangelism, featuring contributions by seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr., Timothy K. Beougher and others. Along with promotions and interaction opportunities with faculty, the seminary will distribute the spring issue of Southern Seminary Magazine. Themed around Boyce College, the magazine features articles by Mohler and Matthew J. Hall, provost of SBTS and senior vice president of academic administration. Convention attendees can connect with alumni, professors, friends and prospective students at the exhibit’s seating area, as well as purchase tickets for the annual alumni luncheon on Wednesday, June 12. The first 500 visitors to the SBTS booth will receive a free copy of Mohler’s new book, The Apostles’ Creed.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

This year’s emphasis of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s exhibit booth is a call to all Southwesterners to come home to their seminary. The booth will also highlight President Adam W. Greenway’s “big-tent” vision for the seminary, featuring the core commitments of the institution’s founders. Visitors to the booth will receive the latest issue of Southwestern News, which focuses on the seminary’s future, as well as a free book from Seminary Hill Press – And You Will Be My Witnesses: 31 Devotionals to Encourage a Spirit of Everyday Evangelism, co-edited by Matt Queen. Gifts for SWBTS alumni will also be available, including lapel pins featuring the seminary’s historic seal. SWBTS representatives and faculty will be present to discuss seminary programs and how you can be part of the seminary’s story. Tickets to the Alumni and Friends Luncheon on June 12 will be available while supplies last. To learn more about the luncheon or purchase tickets in advance, visit swbts.edu/sbclunch.

Woman’s Missionary Union

The exhibits for WMU and WorldCrafts will be combined this year, highlighting ways to be involved in missions discipleship, leadership development and compassion ministries of WMU. Several conversation areas will provide the perfect backdrop for scheduled features such as hearing from WorldCrafts artisans; Pure Water, Pure Love water filter demonstrations; and more. Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director-treasurer, and Linda Cooper, president, will also sign copies of their new 30-day devotional, On the Journey. This book, along with select WMU resources and WorldCrafts products, will be available for purchase in the WMU/WorldCrafts exhibit space. A free gift will accompany each purchase, while supplies last, and attendees can register to win various giveaways.

Seminary Extension

For those who are interested in studying with Seminary Extension or in seeing how Seminary Extension can help them to better serve in their ministry, please stop by the booth for a visit. Learn more about how this ministry of the SBC serves the convention by offering theological education and ministry training that is biblical, accessible and affordable. The staff with Seminary Extension look forward to visiting with former students, instructors and friends.

Southern Baptist Foundation

Visitors to the Southern Baptist Foundation booth will be encouraged to explore how they can impact the Kingdom and the legacy they will leave. They also will be challenged to think about causes they love and discover ways to support them. Visitors can also register to win one of two autographed jerseys (University of Alabama and Auburn University). They also can win a giant soda bottle filled with money by guessing the amount. For more information, visit the booth or email [email protected].