Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber speaks during Sunday’s service at Calvary Baptist Church in Greenfield.
Anne Durham Smith | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — With the Southern Baptist Convention going on this week at the Indiana Convention Center, church leaders expected up to 16,000 people to convene in Indianapolis for several days of speakers and church business, including choosing a new president.
On the cusp of that gathering, outgoing SBC President Bart Barber stopped by Greenfield and delivered Sunday’s sermon at Calvary Baptist Church.
There were other special guests at the service, too. Native Praise is an Oklahoma choir of American Indian women who sing religious songs in traditional tribal languages. The group, scheduled to also sing at the convention, shared music Sunday that included a rendition of “Give Me Jesus.” The singers represent 16 tribes and 23 churches.
Barber commended the choir and said he’s pleased by the number of different people groups who are part of the SBC.
“Southern Baptists are the most ethnically diverse family of churches in North America,” he said. ” … Jesus has moved and has brought people to faith in him.”
As Calvary pastor Roger Kinion prepared to introduce Barber, Kinion commended work the churches of the denomination do together, from supporting thousands of missionaries in the United States and abroad, to training ministry leaders in seminaries. He also named SBC disaster relief as being an entity, alongside the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, through which all the donations go to the actual work.
“Southern Baptists do a great job of reaching the nations for the Gospel,” Kinion said, “starting at home and going around the world in all kinds of ways.”
