The 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference, set for June 12–13 in Anaheim, California, revealed its lineup of 12 preachers through a fun Christmas-themed music video — “12 Days of Pastors” — on the group’s Facebook page this morning (Dec. 9).
Matt Henslee, associational mission strategist for Collin Baptist Association in Fairview, Texas, serves as president for the upcoming conference. He shared in a TAB Media Special Report about how he and fellow officers — vice president Cam Triggs, lead pastor of Grace Alive in Orlando, Florida, and treasurer Sam Greer, senior pastor of Red Bank Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee — are planning and preparing for the upcoming conference.
Creative announcement
Creating and producing the “12 Days of Pastors” video, he said, was a “whole lot of fun; we had a blast pulling it off.” He described it as a “combination effort,” with creative input from Aaron Ledford, minister of administration and worship at Inglewood Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, Texas; James Cheesman, worship pastor at First Baptist Church Farmersville, Texas; and Kyle Bueermann, replanter development coordinator at the North American Mission Board.
Henslee is hoping the video will bring a “smile … in the middle of all the chaos” swirling in today’s world.
Although the video is a lighthearted approach to announcing the upcoming conference speakers, Henslee said all preachers at the SBC event “will handle the Word of God seriously but [hopefully] handle ourselves less seriously. We’re going to have a good time.”
In his press release announcing the conference speakers, Henslee stated, “Our promise to Southern Baptists was to choose 12 men who affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message and the Chicago Statement on Inerrancy and reflect the SBC’s diversity in ministry contexts and backgrounds.”
The conference officers listened to hundreds of sermons from more than 450 nominees as they narrowed their selection to the 12 men selected.
“God has blessed Southern Baptists with some amazing pastors,” he said.
The 12 who were selected “are faithful men of God who love their families well, lead their churches well, and handle the inerrant, infallible, sufficient word [of God] well,” Henslee said.
They will preach through one still-to-be-announced book of the Bible, with each preacher assigned a specific passage.
Confirmed preachers for the 2022 SBC Pastors Conference are:
Julio Arriola, director of Send Network, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Grapevine, Texas
Matt Carter, lead pastor, Sagemont Baptist Church, Houston, Texas
Mark Clifton, replant pastor, Linwood Baptist Church, Linwood, Kansas
Marcus Hayes, lead pastor, Crossroads Church, The Woodlands, Texas
Al Jackson, pastor emeritus, Lakeview Baptist Church, Auburn, Alabama
Omar Johnson, pastor, Temple Hills Baptist Church, Temple Hills, Maryland
Daryl Jones, church planter/pastor, The Rock Fellowship, Pembroke Pines, Florida
Hanley Liu, English service pastor, First Chinese Baptist Church, Walnut, California
Mathew Mueller, church planter/pastor, Valley Life Church, North Peoria, Arizona
Clay Smith, senior pastor, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Marietta, Georgia
P.J. Tibayan, pastor, Bethany Baptist Church, Bellflower, California
Israel Villalobos, Spanish service pastor, Plymouth Park Baptist Church, Irving Texas
Additionally, Adam Greenway, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and Daniel Ritchie, evangelist, speaker and author from Raleigh, North Carolina, are slated to preach. Leading music for the conference will be Southern Seminary’s Matt Boswell and Southwestern Seminary’s Cowden Hall Band.
To watch the “12 Days of Pastors” video, go to the conference’s Facebook page. Also check out the conference’s Twitter page and its website. If you want to donate toward conference expenses, visit the Southern Baptist Foundation website.
