California Baptists seek to be ‘United’
By Sarah Graham, CSBC
MILPITAS, Calif. — California Southern Baptists gathered Oct. 24-25 for the 84th annual meeting of the California Southern Baptist Convention (CSBC), hosted by New Vision Church in Milpitas. The meeting’s theme, “United: In Prayer and On Mission,” drawn from Romans 15:30, underscored a call for unity in purpose and dependence upon the Lord through prayer and partnership.
Over two days and four sessions, California Baptists reflected on the work of God across the state, celebrated cooperative ministry, conducted essential business and looked ahead to the future with renewed commitment to the mission.
A total of 444 people attended, including 263 messengers and 181 guests from 167 CSBC churches.
Before the annual meeting began, two ethnic fellowships (the NorCal Chinese Baptist Association and the Filipino Southern Baptist Ministries) gathered for 13 hours of concentrated prayer. That spirit of unity continued into the meeting, with an additional 15 minutes of corporate prayer during the third session.
In his CSBC executive director report, Pete Ramirez emphasized the role of prayer in kingdom work, sharing four key points:
• Prayer is spiritual partnership.
• Prayer is motivated by love.
• Prayer invites God’s power into the mission.
• Prayer keeps the church united in the struggle.
Messenger business
New officers elected by messengers were: President Port Wilburn, director of missions for the Bridges Bay Area Association; Vice President Grant Bennett, pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Bakersfield; and Worship Leader Victor Silva, worship pastor at Magnolia Church in Riverside.
Messengers also adopted a budget of $6,090,807, with a $5.1 million Cooperative Program (CP) objective (a slight increase from last year’s $5 million).
The national CP allocation will be increased to 31%, up from 30% last year, and percentages for CSBC partners remain the same if the $5.1 million CP goal is achieved. (See CP allocations below).
• Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee — $1,581,000 (31%) for worldwide missions.
• California Baptist University — $102,000 (2%) for Christian education.
• The Baptist Foundation of California — $51,000 (1%) for kingdom causes.
• Associational Missions — $102,000 (2%) for regional ministry support.
• CSBC Executive Board — $3,264,000 (64%) for ministries in California.
Moments of worship and celebration
A 60-member Korean choir led a stirring time of worship to open the third session, setting the tone for a meaningful celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program.
Tony Wolfe, executive director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, served as convention preacher, delivering a message titled “A Unity of Purpose and Consecration.”
Wolfe reminded attendees: “Our Christian togetherness should turn the heads of the watching world. They should behold the goodness and pleasantness of our gatherings and realize that what we have in Christ, and in one another, is special.”
Following the sermon, attendees received complimentary copies of Wolfe’s book, “A Unity of Purpose: 100 Years of the SBC Cooperative Program.”
Reaching California: The Next 10 Years
In his session 1 report, Ramirez officially launched the Reaching California vision, a 10-year initiative designed to mobilize churches to reach 2% of California’s population (or 1 million people) with the gospel. Ramirez emphasized that the mission begins now, with the official launch set for Nov. 2. He encouraged every California Southern Baptist to get involved by downloading the Reaching California app (available at reachingcalifornia.com), where churches and individuals can track engagement and join in celebrating the united efforts.
“I am genuinely excited about what God will allow us to see through this 10-year vision of Reaching California,” Ramirez said. “I’m excited about how this process has unfolded so far with prayer, collaboration and the clear hand of God guiding each step.”
The 2026 CSBC Annual Meeting will be held Oct. 27-28 at Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland.
Utah-Idaho gets back to the basics
By Karen L. Willoughby
MERIDIAN, Idaho — Utah-Idaho Southern Baptists got back to basics during their Oct. 24 annual meeting, which took place at Central Valley Baptist Church, where Clint Henry is pastor.
At least 134 people were present for the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention’s (UISBC) 61st annual meeting, including 59 messengers from 29 Idaho churches, 28 messengers from 17 Utah churches and 47 registered guests. About 185 churches are a part of the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention.
“It’s a must to attend the annual meeting,” Henry said as he welcomed attendees. “It’s always on my calendar. It’s a priority to hear what God is doing through all our churches.”
The “Back to the Basics” theme, based on 1 Peter 2:9, led the daylong meeting’s four speakers to focus on preaching, praying and praising God.
“If we want to be effective in a dark world we must remain faithful to the message,” preached President Roger Naylor, pastor of First Baptist Church in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho.
Reports from Executive Director Rob Lee and from several Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) entities took place between times of worship, business and fellowship breaks, including a cake honoring Janice Trotter upon her retirement after 13 years as the two-state convention’s director of business services.
Lee spoke of the UISBC’s three priorities: making disciples, starting churches and strengthening churches.
“Something’s happening in Utah and Idaho,” Lee said. “We’ve got a bunch of young men in the Salt Lake School of Theology and young men in our [church] residencies. We have our next generations already serving in Utah and Idaho.”
The Salt Lake School of Theology, now five years old, has 18 students and 17 auditors studying church history this fall.
Messengers passed without discussion a third year of a budget decrease. This one severe enough to result in a 10-point decrease in national Cooperative Program giving in 2026, from 30% to 20% of the amount churches send to the state convention.
When Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Scott Plath, pastor of South Fork Outdoorsman Church in Idaho, gave the report, he added that all Cooperative Program gifts from churches over the 2026 budget would be sent on to the SBC Executive Committee (for disbursement according to the vote of messengers at this summer’s SBC annual meeting) until the 30% CP giving is achieved.
The 2026 budget of $917,703 includes an anticipated $684,703 in Cooperative Program giving from churches. This is down an anticipated $122,257 from last year.
Executive Director Rob Lee reported giving to the Cooperative Program is down 14.3% this year while costs to the two-state convention have increased.
“Our pastors and members are excited with all God is doing throughout our state convention but share concerns with challenges in the SBC nationally,” Lee told Baptist Press. “Budget and Finance Committee Chair Scott Plath explained it breaks our committee’s hearts having to make what we pray is a temporary change.”
UISBC anticipates sending at least $136,941 for SBC global missions during the 2026 fiscal year, down from an anticipated $242,088 in last year’s budget. As of August 2025, $126,380.19 had been forwarded to the SBC Executive Committee, or 52.2% of anticipated at this time in the fiscal year.
Other news relayed to messengers was much more positive.
Baptisms are up: 749 vs.746 the previous year; church planting is up: six new plants this year, for a total of 11 active plants and a possibility of 15 additional plants within the next year.
A Greg Laurie evangelistic event is set for Nov. 16 at Utah Valley University, the same setting where Charlie Kirk lost his life last month. At least 1,500 volunteers are needed, and especially trained law enforcement to handle additional security.
A Send Relief Serve Tour (short-term mission project) is planned for Salt Lake City next April 17-18. Already several churches across the metro area have indicated they want to participate in reaching out to their neighbors and communities. Visit ServeTour.org for more information and to volunteer.
All four officers were elected by acclamation this year, each of the top three moving up from their role last year and one of the speakers this year.
Dave Carver was elected president; Timothy O’Day, first vice president; and Allen Featherstone, second vice president. Gavin Roberts, co-pastor of Morgan (Utah) Grace Fellowship, was elected recording secretary.
The 62nd annual meeting of the Utah Idaho Southern Baptist Convention is set for Oct. 23, 2026, at Canyons Church in Salt Lake City.
“God is moving across our two states, drawing people to Himself in numbers I have not seen in my 38 years of ministry in Utah-Idaho,” the executive director said. “I pray this is the beginning of revival and spiritual awakening for North America.”
