At 90, evangelist Billy Graham says he is too aged to attend the annual meeting, but he did take the time to write down a personal message and have his pastor, Don Wilton of First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, S.C., read it to messengers. Read by Wilton, Graham's message said, in part:

"I have been reading about the meetings this week, especially the anniversary celebration of Southern Baptist Seminary. I join you in honoring that great institution, headed by my good friends over the years, such as Duke McCall, and the current president, Dr. Albert Mohler. How grateful I am to the renewed commitment to the authority of God's Word and to the training of God-called men and women.

"… I've also read with interest the call to a Great Commission Resurgence for our convention. With a world in crisis and our nation in challenge such of which we have not seen in decades, the clear and certain proclamation of the Gospel is paramount. I pray that from our churches to our state conventions, our mission agencies to our seminaries, Southern Baptists will rally to the bold call of evangelism for this hour. "