The more than 11,000 messengers and their guests endured a full day of entity reports, the first set of officer elections and an opportunity to make their requests known today (June 9) during the SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando.
Woven in between the business items were Clint Pressley’s president’s address and an International Mission Board Sending Celebration.
Read more stories from the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando.
Messengers elected Florida’s Willy Rice as the incoming SBC president 5,217, 57.56%, of the votes. South Carolina’s Josh Powell received 3,821, 42.16%, of the votes.
Twenty-five, .28%, ballots were disallowed. Of the 11,613 messengers registered, 9,063 voted in the presidential election.
Entities sharing reports throughout the day were GuideStone, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Lifeway and the six SBC seminaries.
Regarding the dozens of motions made by messengers, five focused on establishing task forces and would routinely be referred to either the incoming president or the SBC Executive Committee.
Today’s action changed up the routine, however.
Benjamin Cole, a messenger from North Lexington Baptist Church in Lexington, North Carolina, objected.
In the EC’s report earlier in the afternoon session, President and CEO Jeff Iorg had told messengers the EC would operate with $600,000 less starting in October, which already means staff cuts and required salary cuts in the next fiscal year. The funds were part of a shift designed to raise funding for IMB to 51% of the Cooperative Program Allocation Budget.
Cole moved to quash all new task forces. “My concern is that we are overloading the Executive Committee with work and we are not giving them resources to do it,” Cole said. He called the task forces “extraneous” and “far afield” from the EC’s ministry assignment.
“The Executive Committee has become for the Southern Baptist Convention like ancient Israelites whose quota of bricks has been increased while their ratio of straw has been eliminated,” Cole said. “Brothers, sisters, let us not demand more bricks while denying them essential straw. Defeat the motion to refer.”
And they did.
Mohler Amendment
Regarding the Mohler Amendment, a vote to suspend Standing Rule 6 was approved by messengers, so debate on the motion by Southern Seminary president Al Mohler is scheduled for Wednesday morning at 8:45 a.m. (Eastern) instead of being referred to the EC.
Mohler has moved to add a sixth point to SBC Constitution Article 3 regarding the role of pastor. An affirmative vote on Mohler’s motion tomorrow will cut one year from the approval process, bringing it to the floor in Indianapolis next year for its second and final vote.
For Day 2 of the annual meeting June 10, messengers will learn the winner of the recording secretary run-off between George Schroeder and Travis Kerns. They both received almost 38% of the votes in the initial three-way election. Jonathan Greer came in third with 24.27% of the votes.
Messengers also will hear the remaining entity reports, elect the first and second vice presidents and the registration secretary, and vote on the remaining proposed resolutions. Three of the 11 were adopted today — acknowledging the 250th anniversary of the U.S and Baptist contribution to religious liberty, appreciation for Orlando, and appreciation for bivocational and volunteer pastors.
