Among the biggest of today’s news, messengers have voted not to adopt the Law Amendment, which would have added to the SBC Constitution this phrase: “Affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” The Law Amendment needed 66% of votes to be fully greenlit by messengers, and it was just shy of that – getting 61.45% of the vote.

And we have a new SBC president – North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley. Messengers approved Pressley after two runoff votes that started out with six candidates. The full slate of new officers elected this year also include: 1st vice president Brad Graves of Oklahoma and 2nd vice president Eddie Lopez of Texas. SBC registration secretary Don Currence and recording secretary Nathan Finn ran unopposed and will serve an additional term.

And then, of course, there were a slew of motions and resolutions that messengers brought to the microphones to discuss and debate. Here are the headlines from those hours of debate: Messengers voted against abolishing the ERLC, and also voted against censuring select SBC leaders for signing on to an amicus brief related to sexual abuse.

On the other hand, messengers approved a resolution that opposes IVF, or in vitro fertilization, and calls on church members to reject IVF. While the resolution acknowledges the grief of those who struggle with infertility, the overall tone of messengers was a concern that these reproductive technologies increase abortions based on Southern Baptists’ belief that life begins at conception.

Thank you all for journeying with us these past few days. Be sure to find the full reports of all major news items from this year’s SBC Annual Meeting as well as a variety of other news, features and resources for Christian living at thebaptistpaper.org and thealabamabaptist.org.