Southern Baptists recommend hometown for annual meeting in 2005

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - For the first time ever, the Southern Baptist Convention&#39;s executive committee has recommended the denomination&#39;s hometown as the site for its annual meeting. <br> <br> The committee Tuesday recommended Nashville, Tennessee, for the 2005 meeting and Greensboro, North Carolina, for the 2006 meeting. The meetings typically draw up to 15,000 Southern Baptists and pump millions of dollars into the local economy. <br> <br> The Southern Baptists have been in Nashville since 1927, but the city never had sufficient convention and hotel space to accommodate a meeting of this magnitude. <br> <br> Southern Baptists will take a final vote at this year&#39;s annual meeting in Saint Louis. <br> <br> The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation&#39;s largest Protestant denomination.