New details on the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference have been released — the lineup of speakers, the launch of a new website and a new endowment funding strategy among them.
Daniel Dickard, SBC Pastors Conference president, announced the latest news through Twitter on Friday (Sept. 30). The conference will be held next year (June 11–12) in New Orleans. Next year’s theme will be “Character Matters in Ministry: Beatitudes of a Pastor.”
Conference preachers, speakers and music
Pastors Conference preachers will include:
— David Allen, dean of the Adrian Rogers Center for Preaching at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary
— H.B. Charles, senior pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida
— Andrew Hebert, lead pastor of Mobberly Baptist Church, Longview, Texas
— D.J. Horton, senior pastor of Church at The Mill in Spartanburg, South Carolina
— Chip Luter, senior associate pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, Louisiana
— Bartholomew Orr, senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Mississippi
— Jim Shaddix, professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
— Phil Waldrep, evangelist with Phil Waldrep Ministries.
Other speakers will give “short, timely messages” on why character matters in ministry.
They will include Wayne Bray, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Simpsonville, South Carolina; Michael Cloer, pastor emeritus of Englewood Baptist Church of Rocky Mount, North Carolina; Roc Collins, director of strategic objectives for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board; Gilberto Corredera, pastor of Prestonwood en Espanol in Texas; Jimmy Draper, president emeritus of Lifeway Christian Resources; Phil Newton, director of pastoral care and mentoring for the Pillar Network in Wake Forest, North Carolina; Herb Revis, senior pastor of North Jacksonville Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida; Jarrett Stephens, senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas; and Ken Whitten, senior pastor of Idelwild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida.
Music for the conference will be led by Travis Cottrell and his band. Other special music guests will include Nate Jernigan from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and the William Carey University Worship Choir and Band.
Endowment strategy
Dickard also announced a new “self-perpetuating endowment funding strategy” to help cover expenses for next year’s event, and future conferences, while also helping conference officers avoid spending the majority of their time in office raising funds for the event.
“Once we cover the operational expenses for this year, all additional moneys would be placed in the endowment account, managed by the Southern Baptist Foundation,” Dickard, pastor of Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, announced through a video released on Twitter.
Through a partnership with the Foundation, he noted, the endowment will allow officers to spend more time ministering to other pastors. The strategy would also “allow any qualified, God-called pastor to run for pastors conference office regardless of church size, budget,” he said.
Noting October is Pastor Appreciation Month in the SBC, Dickard asked pastors to consider giving a one-time gift to the Pastors Conference.
For more information about the endowment, click here.
