Archives For #SBC16

Racism addressed with firm action

ib2newseditor —  June 23, 2016

Race panel

Resolution urges no more use of Confederate battle flag

The Southern Baptist Convention rejected use of an iconic Southern emblem, the Confederate battle flag still commonly seen in the South, because it is for many representative of slavery and ongoing racism against African Americans. The resolution states: “We call our brothers and sisters in Christ to discontinue the display of the Confederate battle flag as a sign of solidarity of the whole Body of Christ, including our African-American brothers and sisters.”

Its passage by a considerable majority was met with enthusiastic applause.

The vote came after an impassioned plea by Georgia pastor and former SBC President James Merritt, himself the descendant of two Confederate war veterans.

“Make no mistake, this is a seminal moment in our convention,” said Merritt. “I believe God has brought the SBC to both the kingdom and our culture for such a time as this. What we do today with this issue will reverberate in this nation, not just today, but I believe a hundred years from now. This is not a matter of political correctness, it is a matter of spiritual conviction and biblical compassion.”

Merritt proposed an amendment which strengthened the resolution, and removed a phrase some had used about “honor(ing) their loved one’s valor.” He substituted language to “discontinue the display of the Confederate battle flag as a sign of solidarity of the whole Body of Christ, including our African-American brothers and sisters.”

The amendment passed. While not all messengers who spoke supported the resolution, the will of the Convention was clear: Southern Baptists have broken with the racism of their past. After statements in 1995 and the election of an African American president in 2013, some expressed hope the sins of the past are repudiated as well as the flag.

SBC President Ronnie Floyd chose the St. Louis convention, just a few miles from Ferguson, Missouri, as the place to discuss racial reconciliation. Convention week began with outreach ministry in Ferguson, site of riots in 2014 following the police shooting of a black teenager.

Floyd told convention messengers, “America is…experiencing a racial crisis. Any form of racism defies the dignity of human life. Regardless of the color of human skin, God has put his imprint on each of us…Racism is a major sin and stronghold in America.”

Floyd staged a panel discussion, a rarity in SBC business sessions, called “A National Conversation on Racial Unity in America,” with 10 leaders.

“I am absolutely, totally convinced that the problem in America can be put totally at the doorsteps of our churches,” said Jerry Young, president of a mostly African American denomination, the National Baptist Convention.

Young noted Christ told his disciples to be the salt and light of the world, and he said Christians are failing in the task. “I challenge you to know that the problem in America is a problem with the church being what God called it to be….Here’s what needs to happen in America: Somebody needs to pass the salt and turn on the lights.”

The panel discussed the killing of nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina last year. “That racially motivated murder hurt all of us,” said Marshall Blalock, pastor of the mostly white First Baptist Church in Charleston. “The white community for the first time began to understand.”

Blalock noted, “The killer was a terrorist, he wanted to create fear and cause hopelessness. But he went to church where there is no room for fear, or hate, or hopelessness…Only the gospel can eliminate racism.”

Kenny Petty, pastor of the Gate Church in St. Louis, said incidents such as the Charleston church shooting and police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., exposed an infection. “That wound opened up and it reeked.” Since the shooting, “there has been some healing (in Ferguson), but we’ve got a long way to go. We found out that infection didn’t just stop with the culture, it went on to the doorstep of the church.”

“What we need is the mind of Christ,” Young said. “If we want to change racism in our churches and America we’re going to have to change our attitude through Christ.”

President of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Russell Moore called the convention’s action “an extraordinary moment.”

“We watched a denomination founded by slaveholders vote to repudiate the display of the Confederate battle flag in solidarity with our African American brothers and sisters in Christ,” Moore said.

– Lisa Sergent

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High stakes, higher calling

ib2newseditor —  June 16, 2016

High stakes higher calling

Facing cultural decline and denominational woes, Southern Baptists leave St. Louis amazed by grace.

St. Louis | The stakes are high, Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd declared to Southern Baptists gathered in St. Louis. And perhaps they’ve never been higher.

Christians are being martyred around the world. Refugees are fleeing for their lives. There are still thousands of people groups unreached with the gospel, but limited funds required the SBC this year to reduce its missions force by more than 1,000.

“As followers of Jesus Christ, everything we believe in and place in high value is at stake,” said Floyd, an Arkansas pastor who finished his second one-year term as SBC president.

At home, spiritual lostness is growing. Religious freedom is under fire. And the threat of domestic terrorism looms large, exhibited in Orlando just hours before Southern Baptists convened in St. Louis.

The attack on a gay nightclub early June 12 that left 50 people dead cast a shadow on the St. Louis meeting, and sent Southern Baptists to their knees in prayer. Because all human beings are made in the image of God, Floyd said, the attack “is against each of us.”

Every pastor or leader who prayed from the platform during the meeting included Orlando in his prayer.

Baptists’ commitment to missions and evangelism also were on display in St. Louis, in messages preached at the Pastors’ Conference and through a joint presentation by the SBC’s two mission agencies that highlighted the role of the local church and individual Christians in taking the gospel to unreached communities.

And at the heart of the meeting was a show of humility by SBC leaders, as two men vying for the denomination’s presidency met before their run-off election, each telling the other one to take the post.

When Baptists dispersed from St. Louis, they left having unified around a new president, and having heard a call to urgency for and commitment to the gospel of Christ.

Good thing, because the stakes are historically high.

Grassroots participation

As pastors and churches struggle to navigate social change and growing lostness, the stakes are high for people in the pew as well, Floyd said.

“Our pastors and churches need you to be engaged more on Sundays than ever before,” he preached in his president’s address Tuesday morning. “But we also need you to intentionally integrate your faith on the front lines of culture.” In everything you do, no matter where you are.

At the St. Louis meeting, everyday Baptists were urged to take the gospel to the communities as they live their everyday lives, and were shown examples of regular people who are doing just that.

During his agency’s presentation, North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell interviewed a group of church planters who have started new congregations in Iowa college towns and are moving next to Columbia, Missouri. On large video screens, meeting attenders heard from a college student planning to pay out-of-state tuition so she can be part of the new church in the state next door, and share the gospel with people who don’t know Christ.

“When you really get to it, we talk about the gospel more than we actually advance the gospel,” Floyd preached.

If we had just one-fourth of the passion for evangelism that we have for American politics, SBC politics, theological discourse, blogging, and a whole host of things, we could change the world for Christ, Floyd said before adding, “I can’t be president again, so I might as well be honest.”

We must recapture a vision for evangelism, Floyd preached, starting in our own towns. “This is where it begins.”

Class action

Many thought the election of a new SBC President would signal whether it was time for a generation of older pastors to pass the baton. There were theological issues at play too: Two of the candidates for president—Steve Gaines, 58, and J.D. Greear, 43—are established leaders of different theological streams within the SBC.

In the end, age and theology differences gave way to the greater good. A first vote between Gaines, Greear, and third candidate David Crosby of New Orleans forced a run-off between Gaines and Greear. A second vote was still too close to call, with Gaines narrowly edging Greear but not receiving the needed majority due to 108 disallowed votes. Greear announced Wednesday morning there was no need for another vote, because he was withdrawing his name from contention.

“Through this whole process, I’ve been praying for unity,” Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, posted on his website. “…If we go to a third vote, and one of us wins by one-half of one percent, it doesn’t matter which of us it is—it’s hard to see how that makes us a united body.”

After announcing his intention to withdraw, Greear received a long standing ovation from those in the convention hall. Floyd asked Greear to pray for Gaines and for the denomination, and messengers elected Gaines president by acclamation.

“I think it was a transcendent moment for the Convention because it embodies the spirit of humility that we as Christians are called to have,” said Kevin Carrothers, pastor of Rochester First Baptist Church and president of the Illinois Baptist State Association. “I think it was well-timed. I think it was a God thing. So, I’m excited about moving ahead, and admire both men and respect their decisions, both willing to step aside for the sake of something bigger than them.”

At a press conference after the election, Gaines said he and Greear “both were sensing the Holy Spirit moving in the same direction.” As both men considered dropping out of the race, they met together with SBC leaders the evening before the third vote was to be taken.

“I looked at him and I said, ‘Man, you can have it,’” recounted Gaines, who pastors Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis. “He said, ‘No, I want you to have it.’” The meeting prompted Gaines to remember Psalm 133: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”

“When the leaders are unified in the Lord Jesus Christ, it brings unity to the body,” Gaines said. As president, he plans to emphasize spiritual awakening, soul winning, and stewardship.

Greear encouraged his supporters also to exhibit a unified spirit. “The task for those of you who voted for me is not to complain that things didn’t go our way,” he posted the morning of his announcement. “It’s to follow the example of our Savior, who came not to be served, but to serve.

“It’s time for us to step up and get involved, to keep pushing forward and engaging in the mission with those who have gone before us. It’s time to look at what unites us.”

Munton elected

It took a little longer than expected for messengers to elect Illinois’ Doug Munton as First Vice President. Because Tuesday’s business proceedings ran over time, Munton’s election didn’t happen until Wednesday afternoon. The pastor of First Baptist Church in O’Fallon, who ran unopposed, told the Illinois Baptist the St. Louis convention was in some ways the most unusual one he’s been to, but also encouraging.

“God brought some unity, much-needed unity, to our Convention. That’s encouraging for our future. I’m grateful for it, and hopeful because of it,” Munton said. “The Lord is obviously at work. He is not done with the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Also elected as officers were Malachi O’Brien, pastor of The Church at Pleasant Ridge in Harrisonville, Mo., as second vice president; John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, to his 20th term as recording secretary; and Jim Wells, retired member of the Missouri Baptist Convention staff, to a 15th term as registration secretary.

The 2017 Southern Baptist Convention convenes in Phoenix June 13-14.

– Meredith Flynn

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SBC prexy stunner: Gaines wins, so does JD

ib2newseditor —  June 15, 2016
Greear Floyd Gaines2

JD Greear, Ronnie Floyd, and Steve Gaines.

There are three winners at the conclusion of the SBC presidential race: Steve Gaines takes the position and the responsibility; J.D. Greear takes the mantel as most Christ-like, and Southern Baptists leave St. Louis unified behind a single presidential candidate.

Greear’s action, withdrawing his name from the race after two ballots failed to produce a winner, was a first for longtime observers of the convention. Greear guaranteed two things: many of his supporters who are young and are new to SBC life are more likely stay engaged if they do not feel pushed out by the older, traditional constituency Gaines represents. And Greear guaranteed himself a place in SBC leadership for decades to come.

Would anyone be surprised if Greear ran unopposed in 2018? The 50% of SBC messengers who had backed Gaines could easily support in the next election the young man who did the very mature thing.

Deferring to the older candidate is indeed a mature move. And, in this case, it’s wise.

Both Greear and Gaines cited the need for unity in the denomination in this decision. “For the sake of our convention and our mission, we need to leave St. Louis united,” Greear said.

Gaines said he, too, had considered withdrawing. He quoted a close friend who said to him after the first day of the annual meeting, “We’re in a mess, aren’t we.” After two ballots, Gaines was still four votes short of a majority, because 108 ballots were disqualified by improper markings. Messengers at the best-attended convention in a decade or more were split right down the middle.

“It’s tricky,” Greear joked as he stepped to the podium to make his announcement, referring to a rap music video produced by a member of his church that some had construed as endorsements by several SBC-entity heads. The crowd laughed.

But it would be tricky to lead the denomination with the membership divided into two camps: established and traditional epitomized by Gaines, and younger and Reformed led by Greear.

For the sake of unity, Greear withdrew.

Gaines had offered to make the same move.

At 43, Greear will likely have another opportunity to be SBC president. Perhaps at 58, it is Gaines’s turn. With his mid-South megachurch platform, Gaines is likely to lead the convention in renewed evangelism, which Floyd and others have said is so vital.

And Greear has a little longer to bring his half of the SBC populace into leadership to form a new mainstream and identity, rather engage in a tug of war with the old guard over theology and tactics. “We are united by a gospel too great and a mission too urgent to let any lesser thing stand in our way,” Greear said.

The two men hugged on the platform, as Gaines was declared the winner by outgoing president Ronnie Floyd.

He could have as easily said, We all win.

– Eric Reed

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Pastors’ Conference attenders urged to share the gospel, finish well

ib2newseditor —  June 15, 2016
Jimmy Scroggins

Jimmy Scroggins

St. Louis | Speakers at the SBC Pastors’ Conference preached on one passage during the 2016 meeting in the Gateway City, diving deep into the apostle Paul’s instruction to younger church leader Timothy.

“Live This,” the theme of this year’s Pastors’ Conference, was taken from 2 Timothy 4:5-6, when Paul urges Timothy to “be serious about everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Ten preachers unpacked the Scripture passage, using their messages to urge leaders toward greater obedience, particularly the area of evangelism, and to be mindful of the legacy they’re leaving.

Do the work

“The last thing the nations need is the exportation of nominal Christianity from North America,” International Mission Board David Platt preached in a message on “do the work of an evangelist.”

In his post at the IMB, Platt says he sees much of the broader missions world that is “gospel-less and gospel-lite.” Debates about whether or not to call Jesus the Son of God when conversing with Muslims. Practices that minimize the call to Christ in the gospel, assuring people that they can be both Christian and Muslim.

Platt asked, What does that have to do with us? “Missionaries are reflections of the pastors who train them and the churches who send them,” he said.

“If we preach a small view of God, people will have a small view of the gospel. If we preach a glorious view of God, people will have a glorious view of the gospel.”

Jimmy Scroggins preached on Paul’s proclamation that he had “poured himself out” for the task of evangelism. The West Palm Beach, Fla., pastor opened his message by describing his diverse community. His congregation, Family Church, was named the 9th fastest growing church by a magazine, Scroggins said, which is the way it ought to be, because they live in an area with a lot of people who are far from God.

But even with their fast growth, “we are not making a dent in the millions of lost people right there within a few miles of our church,” he said.

Looking at recent statistics from LifeWay Christian Resources, it’s apparent churches across the SBC are facing similar challenges, Scroggins added. He gave conference attenders four steps churches and leaders can pour themselves out for the task of evangelism, starting with investing in far-from-God people.

Scroggins told the audience how, as a pastor in Kentucky, his church had been winning people to the Lord, but they were “nearly saved” people. In West Palm Beach, it was a different story. Some people may say evangelism just isn’t their lane, he said.

“If your lane does not take you and your church to far-from-God people, change lanes.”

Read the June 20 issue of the Illinois Baptist for additional coverage of the SBC Pastors’ Conference.

– Meredith Flynn

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‘Small church guy’ elected SBC Pastors’ Conference president

ib2newseditor —  June 14, 2016

Dave Miller copyIowa pastor and blogger Dave Miller has been elected president of next year’s SBC Pastors’ Conference. Prior to the meeting here in St. Louis, Miller had blogged about his proposed direction for the Pastors’ Conference, with a focus on inviting pastors of small and medium-sized churches to preach.

“I am both excited and I’m terrified,” Miller posted on SBC Voices following the election. “Brutally terrified. The budget of this two day event is pretty much the annual budget of my church. The logistics are a little bit more complicated than putting together a church potluck back home. But we are in this together and we are going to be looking to expand our circle. I believe we can do something that will be different. And in a good way.”

Announcing Miller’s nomination May 9,  Indiana pastor Todd Benkert told Baptist Press he wants “to nominate a small church guy and do a different kind of Pastors’ Conference [next] year.”

Miller “is a small church pastor,” Benkert said. “Dave has shown over the years both in his blogging and participating in convention life that he’s committed to unity in the SBC and he’s committed to broad participation among the various groups that make up the SBC. When we first spoke about a vision for the Pastors’ Conference, we were looking at [inviting speakers who were] diverse geographically [and in terms of] age, ethnicity, soteriology — all those things that make up who we are as Southern Baptists.”

Miller, pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa, is an Iowa native and son of missionary parents.

Additional reporting by Baptist Press

 

 

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Gaines: We must invite God into our churches

ib2newseditor —  June 13, 2016

Steve GainesFirst Baptist Church in O’Fallon had a guest pastor in its pulpit Sunday morning. Memphis pastor and candidate for Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines delivered the message at each of the church’s three morning worship services June 12.

The Bellevue Baptist Church pastor lamented Southern Baptist’s lack of focus on evangelism. “What’s happening in the Southern Baptist Convention is a tragedy,” Gaines declared. “We’re in a 17-year nose dive. This is unprecedented, we have more SBC churches, but fewer baptisms. If the people in those churches we’re planting aren’t evangelistic and soul-winning, we’re not going to reach this nation.”

His primary sermon text was taken from Acts 2:40-47. Gaines used Christ’s instructions for the church to exhort churches today to be more evangelistic.

He urged Southern Baptists to invite God back into their churches. “When God comes to church people start getting saved and baptized.” When people walk into a church “it doesn’t need to be dead. It ought to be alive with the power of God.”

Gaines stressed, “We should never plan a worship service to attract people. Instead, we should plan worship services that will attract the manifest presence of God – He will in turn will attract the people.”

Sharing Christ isn’t difficult he noted. “If you knew enough to get saved, you know enough to tell someone how to get saved.”

Prior to the sermon O’Fallon’s Pastor Doug Munton, who will be nominated to serve as the convention’s First Vice President at tomorrow afternoon’s meeting, introduced Gaines as his good friend. He then endorsed Gaines for Southern Baptist Convention President saying, “I’m biased, I believe Steve is the right guy, at the right place, at the right time.”

Gaines is one of three candidates who will be nominated for the job of SBC President tomorrow afternoon. David Crosby, pastor of First Baptist Church, New Orleans, LA, and JD Greear, pastor of the The Summit Church in Raleigh, NC, are also candidates.

 

 

 

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Crossover 2016: Doing what the Lord’s told us to do

ib2newseditor —  June 13, 2016
Idlewild

Members of the Idlewild Baptist, Tampa, Fla. Crossover team: (l-r) Catherine Corpus, Lina Freeman, Frank Mira, and Elroy Rodriguez.

“The walk to the top was the hardest part,” Armando Fernandez shared. “The ride down was easy.”

Fernandez, a Crossover volunteer from Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla., was talking about the zip line ride at the Crossover block party at Sterling Baptist Church in Fairview Heights, IL. His description was not unlike the efforts to share the gospel through the many Crossover events that took place June 11. It can be tough to get started sharing the gospel, but once you do, it’s easy.

Sharing the gospel with the local community is what Crossover is all about. Each year hundreds of volunteers come to the Southern Baptist Convention a few days early to participate in Crossover evangelism outreach projects in and around the host city.

The St. Louis metro area – in both Missouri and Illinois – was the recipient of the the outpouring of the gospel. “We’re in love with the metroplex,” said David Gray, Sterling’s pastor. It’s that love that inspired the church to be a Crossover ministry site. Jesse Wilham, student pastor at Sterling, worked to lay the ground work for the evangelistic event.

Zip line

For many, the zip line was the highlight of the block party.

Whether it’s sharing the gospel story or planning an evangelistic event, the groundwork must be laid. Cooperation from a number of Christian ministries and agencies made the it easy for volunteers to be placed in situations where they could share Christ.

The North American Mission Board funded the zip line rides, which normally run $30-$50 per person. Five hundred hamburgers and hotdogs were donated by a local company. A children’s ministry from Chicago provided drinks. The city of Fairview Heights loaned tents to the church. Gray said the local Chick-Fil-A even set up a stand “because the manager said they needed to be part of the event.”

Seventy-five people from eight churches representing Florida, Illinois, and Missouri made it their mission to come to Sterling Baptist Church to help its members reach the diverse neighborhood around them — some 20,000 Anglo Americans, African Americans, Guatemalans, Puerto Ricans and Nepalese for starters.

Idlewild’s Hispanic ministries pastor, Eloy Rodriguez, said the team came to Illinois because, “We’re doing what the Lord has asked us all to do. This is our Samaria.” In Acts 1:8 Jesus instructs his followers to share the gospel in their “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.”

Their church has made it a practice to prayer walk their own community and others sharing Christ with the people they meet. “We’re doing what the Lord asked us to do, bring the Lord to the people,” said Lina Freeman.

The team arrived on Wednesday night and started canvassing the neighborhood Thursday. It was then that Rodriguez had a life-changing encounter with a neighborhood man. “We were asking people if there was anything we could pray with them about. Many said they had recently lost loved ones. But, one man said, ‘Last Sunday, I was going to kill myself.’”

The man told Rodriguez he had been in his car and was going to drive into traffic, put pulled back when he realized not only would he kill himself, but the people in the other cars as well.

Rodriguez and his team shared the gospel with the man who accept Christ as his savior. After wards, “That guy gave me the biggest hug I’ve ever had,” shared Rodriguez.

Down the street from the block party the church hosted a soccer tournament, and Saturday night featured a concert by the praise bands from Anna Heights Baptist Church and Iglesia Bautista Latina in Effingham. A Sunday night concert by the southern gospel trio Sons of the Father capped off the Crossover weekend.

Gray said his goal was to reach 1,000 people through Crossover, and by mid-Saturday the church was well on its way with 500 people registered at the block party and soccer tournament. The best news was 12 people had accepted Christ.

“It’s been phenomenal what’s happening,” Gray said.

– Lisa Sergent

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Thank you, Ronnie Floyd

ib2newseditor —  June 9, 2016
Floyd_presidents_message

SBC President Ronnie Floyd at the 2015 SBC Annual Meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

When Ronnie Floyd was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the denomination was coming to grips with the truth. After several years of describing many churches as “plateaued or declining,” leaders started speaking in frank terms about why, year after year, key measures like church membership, worship attendance, and baptisms were down denomination-wide.

“We are clearly losing our evangelistic effectiveness,” one Baptist leader said in 2014, the year Floyd was elected to his first term.

Things looked bleak, and for the first time in a while, the pressure wasn’t coming from outside opposition or controversy. Rather, the SBC seemed to be at an impasse.

Before his presidency, Floyd was already established as someone who could provide direction. As the pastor of a Southern megachurch, he led his congregation to a regional, multi-campus strategy and a new name—from First Baptist, Springdale, to Cross Church of Northwest Arkansas.

That is perhaps Floyd’s greatest legacy: He has reminded us that revival starts with prayer, and prayer starts with humility.

As chairman of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, Floyd helped lead Baptists to renewed commitment to a unified purpose—albeit with some difficult adjustments and plenty of debate over proposed funding changes between national agencies and state conventions.

But when Floyd was elected as SBC president, he looked not to drastic measures or sweeping changes—but to prayer. Unified, solidified, corporate prayer. Prayer that asked Baptists of all stripes to set aside differences for something greater than themselves: pleading with God for a great spiritual awakening.

Putting greater emphasis on the SBC annual meeting, Floyd called Baptists to Columbus, Ohio, in June of 2015 for a special prayer meeting to together confess sin—like racism and evangelism apathy—and to move forward as a humbled Convention that prioritized the work and mission of God.

In advance of the prayer meeting, which will happen again this summer in St. Louis, Floyd kept everyone in the loop through regular blog posts and columns distributed via Baptist Press and state Baptist newspapers. Throughout his presidency, he hasn’t hesitated to use the power of the pen (and keyboard) to inform, encourage, and challenge Baptists about the state of the SBC and our desperate need for spiritual awakening.

At the Southern Baptist Convention next weeek in St. Louis, the Tuesday evening session of the meeting will again be devoted to prayer. That is perhaps Floyd’s greatest legacy: He has reminded us that revival starts with prayer, and prayer starts with humility. For calling us together for that purpose, he deserves our thanks.

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Meat me in St. Louie

ib2newseditor —  June 3, 2016

Embrace you inner foodie and sample some of the best food St. Louis has to offer while in town for the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention.

Food Firsts | All these became popular at the 1904 World’s Fair  

DrPepperIn 1804, Thomas Jefferson signed a check for the expansive Louisiana Purchase, and Lewis and Clark started their march from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. A short 100 years later at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the way was paved for the most American of all discoveries, fast food. And franchises.

TedDrewesVisitors to the Centennial expo sampled hamburgers, hot dogs in a bun, ice cream in a cone, and Dr. Pepper—all for the first time. While you’re in St. Louis, try some of the region’s current specialties.

Turn that cup upside down! Ted Drewes famous custard is so thick, it won’t move even when inverted. Others have copied the concept. Ted has 3 locations.

Top Dog | Here are winners from The Feast magazine list

Carlos’ Hot Dogs | 6th and Olive, Downtown
Portugal Native Carlos Periera serves up jumbo dogs to a happy lunchtime crowd. They’re grilled and topped with his mama’s secret sauce. The dogs, that is, not the crowd.

Dogs ‘n Frys | 503 Paul Avenue, Florissant
Of his 27 specialty dogs, owner Mo Mangal’s favorite is the PB&J dog with bacon.

HotDogWoofie’s Hot Dogs | 1919 Woodson Rd., Overland
If you’re missing your beloved Chicago-style dog, Woofie has it, even made with the real deal Vienna Beef. It’s called “the hot dog with dignity.”

Steve’s Hot Dogs | 2131 Marconi Ave., St. Louis
Musician Steve Ewing has a thriving second career peddling his famous hickory smoked, then grilled dogs.Tops on the list is the Gorilla Mac & Cheese dog (pictured).

Ribs and more | As recommended by Baptists who are hearty eaters

Pappy’s Smokehouse | 3106 Olive Street (about 2 miles from the Convention Center)
Best ribs our reviewer has ever had (and she’s from Memphis). The only drawback is that you might wait in line an hour or two.

Fitz’s | 6605 Delmar Boulevard (about 8 miles from Convention Center, but worth the trip)
Known for root beer (they make it right there) and other sodas, the restaurant is diner-y and family-friendly.

Crown Candy Kitchen | 1401 St. Louis Ave. (less than 2 miles from Convention Center)
Famous for candy, ice cream, and chili.

TheHillThe Hill
There are 52 restaurants in this Italian-American neighborhood. It’s the place to go for pasta. Take I-64 (Highway 40 West) to Kings Highway South. Exit on Shaw and follow your nose.

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