Carolyn Fountain, chair of the Executive Committee’s Committee on Events and Strategic Planning, presents her report to the EC Sept. 17, 2024 in Nashville. — Photo by Brandon Porter

NASHVILLE — Dozens of agenda items awaited discussion and action by SBC Executive Committee members at their fall meeting this week. The committee made short work of its many referrals and recommendations, including consequential ones like finding a new home for sexual abuse prevention in the SBC and releasing a total dollar amount for legal expenditures incurred by the EC since 2021.

The EC dealt with all of its business without its usual Monday night plenary session, as that time (Sept. 16) was reserved for the formal installation of its new president and CEO Jeff Iorg, during which Iorg stressed the SBC’s continuing “force for good” in the world.

In three plenary sessions on Sept. 17, EC members heard from new SBC President Clint Pressley, heard a brief update from Iorg and passed 32 recommendations from EC officers and various standing committees with little discussion and almost no opposition. [Read more…]

Phil Robertson, EC chairman, addresses trustees during their meeting in Nashville, Sept. 16–17. — Photo by Van Payne / The Baptist Paper

NASHVILLE — In an effort to help the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee rebound from ongoing financial struggles and growing legal expenses, the EC announced on Sept. 17 it was planning to sell its downtown Nashville building. The EC also reported this week during its meeting it had spent more than $12.1 million on sexual abuse investigation-related expenses since 2020.

During the meeting, newly installed EC President and CEO Jeff Iorg also announced on Tuesday it was time for the SBC to “stop talking” about sexual abuse prevention and response and “take an initial step” toward creating a new department dedicated to helping churches confront the issue. The move was in response to messengers this past June in Indianapolis calling for the EC to find a more permanent home for abuse response in the SBC. [Read more…]

Ben Mandrell, center, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, presented checks totaling $678,283.32 to International Mission Board president Paul Chitwood (right) and North American Mission Board president Kevin Ezell (left) on Tuesday, Sept. 17, during the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee trustee meeting. — Brandon Porter photo

BRENTWOOD — This summer, as thousands of kids and students attended Lifeway camps across the country, camp staff challenged them to think more broadly about their role in God’s mission to make disciples of all nations, and campers responded by giving generously to Southern Baptist missions endeavors.

Because of the faithful giving of kids, students and leaders this summer, Ben Mandrell, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, presented checks totaling $678,283.32 to International Mission Board (IMB) president Paul Chitwood and North American Mission Board (NAMB) president Kevin Ezell on Tuesday, September 17, during the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee trustee meeting. This was the highest amount given to missions through Lifeway camps since 2017.

“The missions education that takes place at Lifeway camps each summer allows campers to learn about a church planter who serves through NAMB and a people group we are praying for and trying to reach with the gospel through the work of IMB missionaries,” Mandrell said. “At Lifeway camps, students are discipled to become Great Commission people.” [Read more…]

SBC executive committee members pray over new EC president and CEO Jeff Iorg and his wife, Ann, Iorg during their installation service on Sept. 16. — Photo by Van Payne / The Baptist Paper

NASHVILLE — While Jeff Iorg’s initial plans for retirement won’t happen as expected, the former president of Gateway Seminary noted he and his wife, Ann, are at peace because “God called, and here we are.”

Iorg, who stepped away from Gateway earlier this year, was installed to lead the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee as president and CEO on Sept. 16 during the EC’s September meeting.

“While life is very different than we anticipated,” he noted, “we believe we are doing what we believe God has asked us to do.”

He later added, “My willingness to serve as president of the Executive Committee rests on God’s call, my gratitude to Southern Baptists and my bedrock conviction that Southern Baptists are a force for good.” [Read more…]

Tony Beam, of South Carolina, serving in his short-term role as interim board chair, leads the Sept. 10–11 annual meeting of the ERLC board of trustees. — Photo by Jennifer Davis Rash / The Baptist Paper

NASHVILLE — The staff of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission heard an official word of affirmation on Sept. 11 with the release of a statement approved by the full board of trustees in a two-hour executive session yesterday during the annual meeting in Nashville.

The full statement (available here Statement-of-Affirmation-Encouragement) affirms the work of ERLC president Brent Leatherwood and the 17 other staff members, noting the importance of “bringing light and hope to the public square.”

The statement also emphasizes how ERLC’s role is to keep the churches informed about the pressing moral issues and urges staff “to be cautious when addressing controversial political issues by allowing [Leatherwood’s advocacy assessment filter] to serve as the guide in choosing the wording of the response.” [Read more…]

The Andersons were among the last families to adopt a girl from China before the country announced the end of its program. — Lifeline Children’s Services photo

BEIJING — The Chinese government has officially ended its international adoption program, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced Sept. 5, ending hopes for hundreds of U.S. families who were matched with children before the COVID-19 pandemic but had adoptions put on hold in 2020.

Karla Thrasher, senior director of international adoptions at Lifeline Children’s Services based in Birmingham, Ala., said the announcement was shocking to the adoption agency and to the 48 families it serves who were matched with Chinese orphans before the pandemic.

“They were definitely in shock. This came very suddenly,” Thrasher told Baptist Press. “We actually had thought things were moving in a more positive direction over the past couple of weeks, and then received this email out of the blue regarding China no longer carrying out the foreign adoptions.”

Lifeline was serving more than 100 matched families when China suspended adoptions in 2020, Thrasher said, but the number dwindled due to various family circumstances. [Read more…]

Floyd Craig

FRANKLIN — Longtime Baptist communicator Floyd Craig died Aug. 30 at the age of 91.

A native of Oklahoma, Craig and his wife, Anne, formed Craig Communications in 1981. Clients included a number of Southern Baptist organizations. Prior to establishing their firm, Craig served as director of communications with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and as director of communications for the Southern Baptist Christian Life Communications (now Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission).

When Baptist Press editors Dan Martin and Al Shackleford were fired by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee in 1990, Craig, along with other Southern Baptists and several Baptist state paper editors, was instrumental in establishing Associated Baptist Press (now Baptist News Global). [Read more…]

Jason Harris, team leader for Paris team with the International Mission Board, shares God’s Word with the volunteers during Sunday worship service in Paris, France. Hundreds of volunteers from the US came to Paris to share the gospel during the Paris Olympics 2024. — IMB photo

FRANKLIN — “We can’t control the results, but we can measure our faithfulness,” said Jason Harris, team leader for the International Mission Board’s Paris team, explaining their strategy for gospel outreach during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Part of that strategy includes facilitating and mobilizing more than 300 short-term volunteers to hit the streets of Paris sharing the gospel. 

The team Harris leads in Paris is young and growing. No team members have been there longer than a few years. They are united around a common vision to make Christ known among Europeans and a long-term goal to plant five churches in Paris over the next five years. 

Harris explained that short-term volunteers are vital to sharing the gospel broadly and making connections that will catalyze their local church-planting strategy and lead to longevity.  [Read more…]

Lifeway president and CEO Ben Mandrell. — Photo from Lifeway

BRENTWOOD — Highlighting Lifeway’s vision statement, President and CEO Ben Mandrell provided trustees with practical steps the organization is taking to serve 300,000 church leaders by 2030.

“While we want to serve as many Christians across the globe as possible, we know our central goal is to listen to the key ministry leaders in the local churches and to build impactful resources to make their jobs easier,” he said. “Ministry is rewarding work, but it’s also hard work, and having the right tools makes all the difference.”

To demonstrate the renewed focus on church leaders, Mandrell highlighted challenges identified by Lifeway Research for four key ministry leaders and resources the organization is producing to help address those areas. [Read more…]