Last May I expressed my excitement on this blog that H.B. Charles would be nominated to serve as the President of the 2018 SBC Pastor’s Conference. Then at the annual meeting in Phoenix last year, Pastor Charles was unanimously elected to serve as the first African American president of the SBC Pastor’s Conference. I have been looking forward to the conference, and last week the lineup of speakers was announced on Pastor Charles’ blog.
The Speakers for the 2018 SBC Pastor’s Conference
Bryan Carter | Concord Church | Dallas, Texas
Charlie Dates | Progressive Baptist Church | Chicago, Illinois
Jack Graham | Prestonwood Baptist Church | Plano, Texas
J.D. Greear | Summit Church | Durham, North Carolina
Tony Evans | Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship | Dallas, Texas
James Merritt | Cross Pointe Church | Sugarloaf, Georgia
Ray Pritchard | Keep Believing Ministries | Dallas, Texas
Juan Sanchez | High Pointe Baptist Church | Austin, Texas
Robert Smith | Beeson Divinity School | Birmingham, Alabama
Cameron Triggs | Grace Alive | Orlando, Florida
Daven Watkins | First Baptist Church | Pelham, Alabama
It was also announced that Frank Pomeroy, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs will share a special testimony during the conference. This will be “his testimony of trusting God through the tragedy his congregation suffered last summer, including the death of his young daughter.”
The theme for the conference is “Fulfill Your Ministry” from 2 Timothy 4:5. The worship leader for the conference is Joe Pace. Pace is the worship leader at Shiloh Church in Jacksonville, FL where Charles is Pastor. He will be accompanied by a more than one hundred voice choir that will “lead us to sing praise to the high name of the Lord Jesus Christ!”
Join me in praying for the conference. Hope to see you in Dallas!
I was very pleased when H.B. Charles was elected PC president last year and excited about how he would lead the conference. Glad to see our president following the Lord’s leadership in selecting gifted preachers to edify SBC pastors.
Wow! This is a great lineup — along with familiar preachers, Charles has selected some powerful preachers that will be new to many (You don’t want to miss Charlie Dates from Chicago!). Also thankful to see a second year in a row where we are hearing from a racially/ethnically diverse group of preachers.
Can’t wait for Dallas!
I couldn’t agree more with you Todd. Charlie Dates is an exceptionally gifted preacher. The first time I heard him was when he came to SBTS to preach in Chapel. I always love hearing from Tony Evans as well and consider him to be one of the finest expositors outside of the SBC. Having such a wide theological variety of speakers is so encouraging because it demonstrates the large umbrella that the BF&M 2000 unites us under. Kudos to HB for gathering these men together for a sign of racial and theological unity.
I did not know Dates preached at SBTS. I’ll have to go find that message.
What do you mean outside the SBC? He is Southern Baptist, he’s even written Lifeway curriculum. Or am I wrong??
Neither Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship nor Progressive Baptist Church are affiliated with the SBC. Both Evans and Dates, however, have preached and written from SBC platforms. Both are solid, conservative Evangelicals with a passion for Great Commission ministry. Looking forward to hearing both.
Also: Found the link for Charlie Dates’ sermon at SBTS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEzaT9y2_9g
Yes, Southern Baptists will certainly be blessed by this group of diverse preachers. H.B. has done an excellent job of selecting a gifted group of preachers who will lead us well in Dallas.
I’m not meaning to be divisive, just trying to understand. If we are at a SBC Conference, shouldn’t we hear from SBC pastors? Has this ever been spoken of before?
It’s been pretty standard practice in recent years for some of the preachers at the conference to be outside of the SBC. The conference is for SBC pastors but the speakers are not necessarily Southern Baptist. Personally, I think it speaks well for us that we recognize that we are part of the larger body of Christ and we want to hear, learn from, and be encouraged by some outside our SBC family.
Yes it’s been spoken about and yes we should hear from fellow SBC brother pastors, but it’s also really beneficial to get outside of our “bubble” and hear from other men as well who may have a different perspective to offer. Last year was really neat in the fact that all the speakers came from average sized SBC congregations. This year I’m really stoked for the line up that HB has put together. Like I said above Charlie Dates is one of the most gifted preachers I’ve had the pleasure to hear from and Tony Evans is already top notch. Both will minister wonderfully to us in June.
Our conference last year was likely one of the first in a long time that had 100% SBC participation. That was to make a point, not because we thought that using non-SBC preachers was somehow wrong.
Someone would have to look at it, but I’d guess that since the CR began, there’s been at least one or two non-SBC speakers. Only a few people chirp about that, but I hope we never go back to the isolationist days of the 70s when Southern Baptists acted as if we were a separate kingdom within the kingdom of God.
If 2 or 3 speakers from the greater Christian world speak to us, good for us.