Key SBC committee nominates new head
Jeff Iorg, a California seminary president, could soon be the next president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee.
A special committee vote on Iorg is set to take place March 21 in Dallas, according to the denomination’s media arm, signalling a potential end to a more than two-year search that was disrupted in August when the committee’s interim leader admitted to falsifying his resume.
The public face of the U.S. evangelical movement, the Southern Baptist Convention is a loose collection of tens of thousands of churches bound through several institutions and a common statement of faith. Like many religious groups, it has seen significant membership declines in recent years.
The executive committee’s previous permanent president, Ronnie Floyd, resigned amid debate about how to handle an investigation into sexual abuse within the convention, The Associated Press reported. And Southern Baptists continue to debate other issues, such as whether to
permit women pastors. According to Baptist Press, Executive Committee Chair Phillip Robertson called Iorg “a leader that all Southern Baptists can unite around.”
The Nashville-based committee does not make formal decisions for the convention, but it reviews financial statements, recommends budgets and administers finances among its entities, among other responsibilities between larger meetings of convention delegates.
Its president is different from the overall convention president, which has been Texas pastor Bart Barber since 2022.
Baptist Press announced Iorg’s nomination Friday, and a number of Baptist leaders have signaled support.
Craig Carlisle, an executive committee member and missions director at Alabama’s Etowah Baptist Association, wrote on social media he was grateful for the news of Iorg’s appointment.
Kevin Ezell, head of the convention’s Alpharetta, Georgia-based North American Mission board, wrote on social media that Iorg is among “the most respected and loved” leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention.