President R. Albert Mohler Jr. and other faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will participate in or host six scheduled events at the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting and related gatherings in Columbus, Ohio, June 16-17, including a panel on same-sex marriage with SBC President Ronnie Floyd.
During the week of the annual meeting, Mohler will participate in the following events:
- The June 15 morning session of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders at the Downtown Hilton. Registration for the June 14-15 conference is $99 until June 11 and $125 at the door. To register for the event, click here.
- A joint session with the five other SBC seminaries during the June 16 annual meeting opening session, in which Mohler is slated at 10:20 a.m. as the fourth president to present his report.
- The Baptist21 event, “A Lunch Panel on Pressing Issues in the SBC,” with Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and IMB President David Platt on June 16. The lunch panel, which will be held in Battelle Grand Ballroom A/B immediately following the seminary reports, is registration only. For information on how to register, click here.
- The 9Marks at 9 panel, “The State of the SBC,” with 9Marks president and SBTS alumnus Mark Dever, Akin, and Platt. Registration is free, but attendees must RSVP here for the 9 p.m. event on June 16 in the Grand Ballroom 2.
- The seminary’s annual alumni luncheon at noon on June 17 in Grand Ballroom 2. During the luncheon, Mohler will give a report highlighting developments and events in the previous academic year. For the first time, “The President’s Report” will be distributed in print to attendees. To register for the Southern Seminary Alumni and Friends Luncheon, click here.
- A June 17 presidential panel, “The Supreme Court and Same-Sex Marriage: Preparing our Churches,” which includes Floyd and Moore. The discussion will take place as the Supreme Court decides by the end of June whether to strike down same-sex marriage bans in 14 states, including the SBC meeting’s host state of Ohio.
Also participating in the annual meeting and related events are Matthew J. Hall, Adam W. Greenway, and Owen Strachan. Hall, the seminary’s vice president for academic services and an elder at Clifton Baptist Church, serves as a member of the Committee on Resolutions. The committee will give its report on June 16 at 4:27 p.m. Greenway, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry, will read a passage of Scripture during the June 17 morning worship. Strachan, assistant professor of Christian theology and church history, is the president of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. The CBMW is hosting a June 15 breakfast and panel discussion featuring Strachan and other leaders during the SBC Pastors’ Conference. To sign up for the event, click here.
Southern Seminary will also host a booth, which opens June 15, in the exhibit hall on the first floor of the convention center. At the booth, the seminary will debut and distribute the summer issue of Southern Seminary Magazine and a new guidebook. A Guide to Church Revitalization is the fifth guidebook published by SBTS Press. Edited by Mohler, the book also features Dan Dumas, senior vice president for institutional administration, and Brian Croft, senior pastor of Louisville’s Auburndale Baptist Church and senior fellow at the seminary’s Mathena Center for Church Revitalization. Southern Seminary and Boyce College faculty members will be available at the booth throughout the annual meeting. Donald S. Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality, will sign copies of his latest book, Praying the Bible, at the convention center’s LifeWay Store, June 15 at 2:30 p.m.
The seminary’s exhibit will also feature three sets of resources as giveaway items. Pastors, prospective students, and alumni can sign up for the giveaway items. The “Pastor Pack” includes two tickets to the Oct. 30-31 Expositors Summit at Southern Seminary, SBTS Press books, and items for his wife. The “Scholar Pack” includes a $100 LifeWay gift card and academic books written by SBTS faculty. The “Alumni Pack” includes a leather bag, books, and an alumni decal.