Chloe Taylor, a member of Lake Shore Baptist Church in Lake Dallas, Texas, waves a flag to call the next person in line at SBC registration at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.
DALLAS (BP) — The 10,599 messengers who registered for the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting June 10-11 in Dallas topped the 9,632 who registered the last time the SBC gathered here in 2018, unofficial counts show.
In addition to messengers, 4,141 guests and 3,433 exhibitors signed up, bringing 2025 total registration to 18,173, said Jonathan Howe, SBC Executive Committee (EC) vice president for convention administration.
Registration Secretary Don Currence said registration ran smoothly, as he and a team of volunteers tweak the system annually.
“The year that we added the QR code readers, the barcode readers, that was a Godsend,” he said. The registration committee resends registration emails the Friday before the meeting convenes, making them more accessible at the registration desk. “And that way it takes like 30 seconds because they (volunteers) just do the barcode, they read it and man — one two three.
“No hiccups” this year, Currence said.
Messengers came from 3,899 churches, all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, Howe said.
At the 2018 Dallas gathering, guests, exhibitors, credentialed press and others joined messengers for a total attendance count of 16,032, more than 2,000 fewer than this year’s attendance.
Looking forward to the 2026 meeting slated for Orlando, Currence kept a notepad of registration tips as he enters his seventh year of service as registration secretary and his 21st year of working in registration at SBC annual meetings, the first 12 years assisting the late Jim Wells.
He appreciates the help of volunteers, including college students who get an up-close view of Southern Baptist business in action.
“It brought in their vision of what the SBC is about,” Currence said. “It’s a dual purpose. I appreciate their service.”
This year’s messenger registration trailed the 2024 messenger registration of 10,946 in Indianapolis, Ind., but when guests and exhibitors were added, this year’s total registration surpassed Indy’s 16,818. However, more churches were represented in Indy, 3,988.
Dallas retains the record for drawing the highest annual meeting attendance on record, the 1985 Dallas meeting which drew 45,519 messengers, according to the 1985 convention annual.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)
