Posted on Jun 12, 2012 | by Adam Miller

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- The North American Mission Board's LoveLoud initiative and Together for Adoption will host a four-person breakfast panel discussion at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting addressing Southern Baptist involvement in adoption and orphan care.

The panel discussion will take place Wednesday, June 20, at 7 a.m. CDT.

Moderated by Matt Capps, associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., panelists will include Russell Moore, senior vice president for academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.; Johnny Carr, director of church partnerships for Bethany Christian Services; Tony Merida, lead pastor of Imago Dei Church, Raleigh, N.C., and associate professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.; and David Platt, lead pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala.

Panelists will address the theological foundation and biblical practice of adoption and orphan care, and discuss how the Southern Baptist Convention can shape the Christian church worldwide.

"Adoption is a broad movement in Christianity, but something happens when you gather as a tribe and talk about how to do this together," Capps said.

NAMB's LoveLoud ministry seeks to assist and equip Southern Baptists in ministry evangelism initiatives, including adoption and orphan care. Together for Adoption seeks to strengthen churches' theological and practical understanding of adoption as a biblical model of God's love and as a biblical mandate for the church.

"We may not be able to eradicate the problem," Capps said. "But the convention has an army of churches who can really have a major influence."
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Adam Miller is a writer for the North American Mission Board.