Committed to a process of learning and thinking together with Southern Baptists, I asked a group of Great Commission Resurgence Task Force members and state executive directors to meet in a conversation session designed to help us work together toward our final report in Orlando. We met for six hours on Monday, April 5, 2010 at the Stephen Olford Center of Union University in Memphis, Tennessee.  I am very thankful to David Dockery, president of Union University, for his gracious hosting of our conversation, and to all the men who participated in this meeting. 

We had a great time of honest and substantial conversation about our common concerns and, even more importantly, our common commitment to the Great Commission. These were serious men who met together in a great spirit. We talked honestly, heard each other, and made some real progress.

I am tremendously encouraged by the passions and vision of these men, and they were extremely helpful to us in clarifying our aims and moving to a set of recommendations that will get us to Orlando together. We spent most of our time talking about the issues that have been of greatest concern and interest to the state conventions. These guys believe in their state conventions and their work for the Great Commission, and we do too. They want to see the world reached for Christ, as we do too. On that common ground we made real progress.

When I presented the interim report of our task force back in February, I said that we wanted to hear from Southern Baptists as we worked toward our final report. I meant what I said, and I am so thankful to the many Southern Baptists who are helping us think and work through these crucial issues.  These state convention leaders were generous with their time and so honest in their thoughts. We are determined to get to Orlando together in a way that unifies Southern Baptists and propels us toward greater faithfulness at every level of our Baptist work.

I tried to bring together representative state leaders from various regions of the country and representative members of the GCR Task Force to foster this important conversation. In addition to President Johnny Hunt, participants included:

GCR Task Force Members
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, Chairman of the GCR Task Force
Dr. David Dockery
Dr. Jim Richards
Dr. Ted Traylor
Dr. Robert White
Dr. Ken Whitten
Dr. Albert Mohler

Executive Directors
Dr. Rick Lance, Alabama
Dr. John Sullivan, Florida
Dr. Anthony Jordan, Oklahoma
Dr. Bill Crews, Northwest Baptist Convention
Dr. Stephen Davis, Indiana
Dr. Jim Futral, Mississippi
Dr. David Hankins, Louisiana
Dr. Terry Robertson, New York