feature by Scott Vaughan


email Scott Vaughan svaughan1@sc.rr.com


No one wants to attend a parliamentary procedure conference. Most importantly, D.J.


Horton, 2014 President of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, doesn’t want to preside over a parliamentary procedure conference when state Baptists gather for their annual meeting, Tues- day-Wednesday, November 11-12, at Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia. Instead, Horton wants to preside over a meeting that


commissions church planters and honors both bivocational pastors and International Mission Board missionaries. He wants to preside over a meeting that honors veterans on Tuesday, which is national Veteran’s Day. He wants to preside over a meeting that focuses each session on worship. He wants to preside over a meeting that provides a free supper with a meaning- ful panel discussion about the future of South Carolina Baptists. He wants to preside over a meeting that sends people back home excited about the future of Baptist life in the historic South Carolina Baptist Convention. “I know we are a representative body and that we must take time to conduct the business


of the convention, but we must make the annual meeting a valuable experience for people to attend,” Horton says. “Churches have limited budgets and time; pastors are looking to attend what brings them value. It’s time to really address the downward spiral of our annual meet- ing.” While the state convention includes more than 2,100 churches with 750,000 members, only 888 members registered for the 2013 annual business meeting in Columbia. Of the 888 messengers, less than 500 were on hand for the Wednesday morning session where 2014 officers were elected. In some ways, Horton says changes in perception of the annual meeting must mirror changes in perception of the convention’s work. “If we are going to be relevant, our con-


Annual Meeting 2014


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