If you see Tiffany, and she’s not hard to spot, give her a word of encouragement and support.

Tiffany has a unique hairstyle, unlike any preacher’s wife I know. Bright pink. She made a motion Tuesday to establish a ministry to support pastors wives. It was one of the ones sent into outer darkness by the messengers.

Before that, though, she was the subject of some online trolling by people claiming to be pastors, because of her appearance.

If you see her, why not thank her for her concern for pastors wives, and let her know she is welcome among us. I chatted with her and Larry on the way out of this afternoon’s session. Nice people. A little aggravated but nice.

Say hi. Don’t let the trolls win.

This batch was a little less ordered than the morning sessions. Still no motion to disband the ERLC though we did get the obligatory motion for remote voting, which will go nowhere.

Gregory Mathis moved to end online preregistration Monday night at 11:59 AM.

Jared Long was our only 2x motioner. He asked for a written explanation on entity alcohol policy.

Josh Abitay(sp?) made a request of the EC, but I can’t read my own handwriting!

Michael Clary moved that employees of entities and their spouses be prohibited from serving as trustees.

Michael Scheider requested a review of IMB vaccination policies.

Wade Thomas requested a review of NAMB expenditures on ouside counsel and consultants.

Robbie Gibson offered a motion to amend article 3 of the constitution. If I understand it right, this is in hope that the Mohler motion will fail and this will be a compromise.

John Jones offered another motion about IMB vaccine policies.

Malcolm Yarnell moved for a study by LifeWay and the seminaries about the serious decline in biblical views of the deity of Christ, the person of the Holy Spirit, and other theological issues.

John Hudson moved a task force to study messenger participation.

Jeremiah Hayes moved that we use no music at the convention that promotes a false gospel.

Joseph Dugger moved for a study of lowering costs for the Pastors’ Conference.

Jim Cummings moved for smaller churches to be allowed to attend and vote remotely.

Dean Schuler offered several Order of Business related motions.

Brant Long offered a motion about ministry to the hearing impaired.

Juan Cabella (?) gave a motion/resolution about kinism. It will be ruled out of order because it was essentially a resolution.

John K??? made a motion about EC accounting.

Jared Walls moved a task force to study trustee functioning.

I predict many of these motions will meet the fate Ben Cole set forth today.

I have been coming to conventions since 1979, though I certainly haven’t attended them all, and we did something today that I didn’t know we could do.

Several of the motions were automatically referred but grouping of about 5 of them were up for a vote. Ben Cole recommended that we NOT refer them to the EC. We overwhelmingly voted not to refer them. Then, by the motion of the same Mr. Cole we sent the motions into parliamentary limbo. They had a term that I do not remember.

I have never seen this happen before. Ever.

I suspect it will happen again. Often.

In the Recording Secretary election:

Jonathan Greer received 1875 votes for 24.27%.
George Schroeder received 2957 votes for 37.79%.
Travis Kerns received 2944 votes for 37.70%.

The runoff was has taken place. Probably announced in the morning.

The motion to suspend the rules to schedule Mohler’s motion passed by an overwhelming majority. I saw people that I know are against the motion vote to schedule the motion for a vote.

It will be dealt with tomorrow morning at 8:45 AM.

11,613 registered messengers
9063 votes

Josh Powell received 3821 votes for 42.16%
Willy Rice received 5217 votes for 57.56%.

Willy Rice is president.

Tyler Armstrong nominated Jonathan Greer. Great speech. Focused on the need to include small church pastors as leaders.

Dean Inserra nominated George Schroeder and was typically lively and funny. George has a background as a journalist.

Denny Burk nominated Travis Kerns and focused on his denominational service.

Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a runoff but I have no idea who makes it.

There were only the two expected nominations.

Pastor ?? Hardwick (I don’t hear like I used to) delivered a positive and optimistic nominating speech for Josh Powell. It was solid and informational. He stated that Josh Powell believes in Southern Baptists, in us, the messengers, and in cooperation. It was not a stemwinder but it was a good speech.

Adrian Taylor nominated Willy Rice and his speech was much more enthusiastic. “We need Willy” he told us repeatedly. We will let down the Kingdom of God if we don’t elect Willy in this seminal moment. It was a stirring speech.

For the record, the applause for his speech was significantly louder, though I do not know if that means that Willy Rice will win.

There were 11,613 messengers at the time of the vote.

I received this from someone who talked to authoritative sources.

The vote on the suspension of the rules for the Mohler amendment will happen at 5:15 today (COOB 2nd report). The question will not be on the amendment but on whether to bring it to the floor for a vote at this convention.

If the vote to suspend the rules and bring the motion forward fails, then the motion will be referred to the executive committee. If the suspension of rules passes, the motion will be scheduled for 8:45 tomorrow morning.

Be in the room where it happens today!

As far as I know, Josh Powell and Willy Rice remain the only two candidates for president though I have heard a few whispers (wishful thinking?) of an unannounced stealth candidate. I suspect that will come to nothing and it will be Powell vs. Rice.

I don’t know if there is a front runner.  Willy Rice may be better known but he also has more baggage after a particularly ugly and angry nomination speech a few years back. He did get a spot in the PC on Monday. Josh Powell seems well liked but not well known.

In a situation like this, it might be the nomination speeches that tip the scales. Voting will occur after the seminary reports.