Pence to address Southern Baptists in Indianapolis; Trump to speak virtually

Former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence will both address groups gathered in Indianapolis during the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting next week.

Trump, who is seeking a second term, will virtually address attendees on Monday during a “Life and Liberty Forum” free event and luncheon presented by the conservative Danbury Institute, according to Baptist News Global and the organization’s website.

Trump received much support among white evangelical Protestants during his 2020 run for office, according to Pew Research Center.

The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, though, has been mired in legal woes.

Recently, a New York jury convicted him on 34 felony counts in a hush money case involving a porn star.

Roughly 11,000 messengers have preregistered for the annual convention, which will tackle a host of issues including reaffirming a ban on women in pastoral roles , reproductive technologies and religious liberty.

Other speakers during Monday’s event include R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky: Shane Winnings, CEO, of Promise Keepers, an evangelical Christian men’s nonprofit; and Sam Brownback, a former Republican governor of Kansas and former ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, according to the Danbury Institute website.

The institute describes itself as an association of churches “focused on educating and mobilizing around cultural and public policy issues from a Judeo-Christian perspective.”

Then, on Tuesday, former Vice President Mike Pence, who has often spoken about his deep faith, will speak at a lunch event sponsored by the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

Pence was among a field of candidates that challenged his former boss to be the presumptive nominee for the GOP. He ended his bid to be the Republican presidential candidate last October.