Karen L. Willoughby

ORLANDO (BP) – Velma Chen of Coral Springs, Fla., squealed in amazement. She’d happened to sit at the same table as Gideon Lee of Milpitas, Calif. The two, who had known each other as teenage members of the same church in Hong Kong, met again at the Asian NextGen Pastors Network annual meeting June 8 at the Orange County Convention Center, which took place in the days preceding the SBC annual meeting.

ORLANDO, Fla. – At one point during Bishop A.B. Vines’ message, he had his more than 200 listeners join hands in a double-room-size circle. Vines – identifying himself as “disunity,” he said, – failed to break through peoples’ arms in several places around the room because everyone in the circle was intentional in keeping him out, he explained.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Richard Blackaby suggests pairing what he calls “godly habits” with daily routines.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Mikey Mewborn, vice president of student life at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, recently accepted a call as executive director/treasurer of the Montana Southern Baptist Convention. A friend’s connection, meetings with Montana Baptists and even a few family ski trips helped solidify Mewborn’s heart for the West.

JONESBORO, Georgia – A sequel to the best-selling “Experiencing God: Knowing and doing the will of God” is in production by Lifeway Christian Resources. 

LOS ANGELES – Zoom calls help, but the fellowship of Japanese Southern Baptist churches is really seen when people froma dozen or more churches that worship in a Japanese context get together in early April for their annual meeting.

ORLANDO – The All Nations booth in the Exhibit Hall of the Orange County Convention Center provides space for all ethnic fellowships to talk with messengers about their ministries during the week of the 2026 SBC annual meeting.

ORLANDO – In addition to 10 culture-specific Asian fellowships in the Southern Baptist Convention, there are two that cross several cultures, and a research network that expands to all ethnicities.

ORLANDO – The 2020 U.S. Census data provides population counts of 313 race and ethnicity groups living in the United States, plus 1,187 American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) tribes and villages.

ORLANDO – The Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists plans to host an hour-long praise and worship service as a concluding event of Crossover Orlando. The event will start at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 6, at Central Parkway Baptist Church in Orlando, 5281 Central Florida Pkwy., where Paul Luis is pastor. All are welcome.