Baltimore | New Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd said the SBC is committed to its path to share the Gospel with the nations, but we must accelerate our pace.

Speaking to media representatives at a press conference this afternoon, Floyd said the greatest need in the convention, and in the world, is the need for a great spiritual awakening. It’s been more than 100 years since the last great American revival, Floyd said.

“We’re overdue, it’s past time, we must have that movement.”

Not just for Southern Baptists, he added, but “for the purpose of seeing the Great Commission escalated to its rightful priority in all that we do as the church, so that we might be able to see it accelerated to its completion in this generation.”

The key, Floyd said, is “extraordinary prayer.” He organized two recent national prayer gatherings for pastors, and told media he will issue a “Call to Columbus” for next year’s SBC Annual Meeting. Before he was elected, Floyd said, someone told him, “You know, if you win, you’ve got to go to Columbus? You think anybody will come?”

Conventions in non-Southern cities generally have fewer attenders, but Floyd wants to use the meeting to pray together for the next great awakening.

“I’m going to do everything I can to work with the Order of Business Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, to try our very best to spend as much time together practicing extraordinary prayer for the next great awakening in next year’s convention,” Floyd told media.

“And over the next year, I will do everything I can everywhere I go, and I need your help, to help carry that message.”

He said, “It’s time to pray. Quite honestly, it’s past time to pray.”

IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams appeared on a panel discussing Cooperative Program giving, just ahead of the start of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Baltimore.

“I think one of the greatest needs we’re facing is education for a new generation.  Mission education channels that were there 20 or 30 years ago are not as prevalent as they once were, and so the places where young people and young pastors learned about the Cooperative Program, how it works, and how effective it is, are different today,” Adams said.

“One of the challenges is every state convention is different… We’re trying to step up and educate people in our state about how Cooperative Program works specifically in Illinois, as well as some broad strokes about how it works everywhere.”

SEBTS president Danny Akin added, “You’ve got to beat that drum again, and again, and again, and again, and again– because generations come and go more rapidly than they used to, things change more rapidly than they used to. You can’t assume that if we did this really well–getting the message out ten years ago or five years ago–that’s it’s sufficient for today. Oh, no, it’s not.”

(Pictured from left to right – Jon Akin, pastor, Fairview Church, Lebanon, Tenn.; Paul Chitwood, Executive Director, Kentucky Baptist Convention; Nate Adams; Jimmy Scroggins, lead pastor, FBC West Palm Beach, Fla.; Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor, Cross Church, northwest Arkansas; and Danny Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary).

Baltimore | Matt Redman, a worship leader from Brighton, England, asked the crowd at the SBC Pastors’ Conference what shared interests they might have. “Do you like Downtown Abbey?” he asked to laughter and some cheers.

Redman led the audience in some of his newer worship songs, and then transitioned into one of his best-known anthems, “The Heart of Worship.”

The city has welcomed Southern Baptists with beautiful harbor views, mild temps, and baseball – the Orioles are hosting two “Baptist nights” at Camden Yards.

We’ve also learned a few things about the city, like:

– Baltimore is the birthplace of Babe Ruth. The slugger never played here, but he’s memorialized at the ballpark.

– Crab cakes come fried or broiled. (You can probably guess which is better.)

– Old Bay seasoning can be used to flavor coffee.

Check out these photos (that last one is an official Old Bay mocha), and come back throughout the day for more from Baltimore. The SBC Pastors’ Conference continues today with messages from Eric Mason, Rick Warren, Francis Chan, and more. Go to sbcannualmeeting.net to listen live.