ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)--The Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists will host a worship service Wednesday afternoon during the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., and all messengers are invited to attend.

In recent years, the service has been held on Sunday mornings, but this year organizers altered the time and the location to be more accessible to most convention-goers.

"The service will be held just up the escalator from the location of the SBC meetings in the theater section of the Orange County Convention Center," conference president Ron Herrod told Baptist Press.

"The auditorium will seat 3,000, and we've scheduled it to be at 2 p.m., giving people plenty of time to attend their seminary luncheon or to have lunch elsewhere," he said. "We've tried to make it convenient for people to be able to attend without leaving the convention center, and they would be finished in plenty of time to have dinner and attend the evening session."

Evangelist Bailey Smith, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will bring the first message, followed by Jay Strack, president of Student Leadership University; evangelist Bill Stafford; and Tim Lee, a former Marine who lost his legs in Vietnam.

Worship will be led by Bob Smith, a COSBE officer and Huntsville, Ala.-based music evangelist, and will feature the trio Greater Vision.

"They're an outstanding Southern gospel group that has music that seems to appeal to all ages and of course honors the Lord," Herrod said of Greater Vision.

The service, which will run from 2 to 5 p.m. June 16, will feature a video message from Billy Graham recorded specifically for the Southern Baptist Convention. Graham, 91, is physically unable to attend the meeting in person.

Another highlight will be the recognition of veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, which will follow Lee's address.

"Tim Lee will be our final keynote speaker, which is very appropriate to our theme of 'Revive the Church, Renew the Nation, Restore Hope,'" Herrod said. "He'll be leading us in a tribute to honor our veterans."
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Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press.