ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A little more than two months before this summer’s Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, SBC President Clint Pressley took part in a recent forum with pastors from western North Carolina.

During the forum, Pressley shared a message that included parts of what he plans to share at the SBC annual meeting, and he participated in a wide-ranging panel discussion on a variety of topics that touched on the upcoming annual meeting, current topics in SBC life, his tenure as SBC president, the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene in that part of the state and more.

The event was held at Grace Baptist Church in Asheville and was hosted by the Pillar Network, a network of local churches that work together to promote church planting and church revitalization. 

Speaking from Hebrews 10:23-25 and expounding upon the SBC annual meeting theme of “Hold Fast,” Pressley offered a preview of the address he plans to deliver at the annual meeting, which takes place June 10-11 in Dallas, Texas. Pressley focused on two admonitions from the passage in Hebrews — to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” and to “consider how to stir one another to love and good works.”

Specifically, Pressley encouraged Southern Baptists to “hold fast” to their confession of faith exhibited through the Baptist Faith and Message and to their cooperation demonstrated through the Cooperative Program. He focused much of his remarks on the upcoming 100th anniversaries of both the Baptist Faith and Message and the Cooperative Program, the history behind them and their importance for the future of the SBC.

“If the Southern Baptist Convention were a train, it would run on two rails,” said Pressley, who pastors Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte. “The Baptist Faith and Message and the Cooperative Program.”

Pressley called Southern Baptists’ confession and cooperation “the two institutions that bind us together.”

While acknowledging the SBC faces a number of issues and challenges, Pressley said there are many “good things” that Southern Baptists are doing related to missions and ministry. Since being elected SBC president during last year’s annual meeting, Pressley said his goal has been to try to highlight those things.

“To be the president of the Southern Baptist Convention is a great honor,” Pressley said.  “I’m very thankful for that, and I don’t take it lightly because we have so many things to rejoice and celebrate. There are so many things that our convention actually does good and right. So many things that are God-honoring. I don’t want to downplay the issues that we have. I know there are some serious issues that we are facing, but I simply want to do everything that I can do in my power in the short time I have to remind us of what is good about being a Southern Baptist.”

Pressley said Southern Baptists’ confession and cooperation promote Christian unity amid congregational diversity.

“It reminds us that we actually are better together,” Pressley said.