Nashville, Tenn. | Willy Rice’s first address to the SBC Executive Committee quickly turned to the issue of sexual abuse. The topic was mostly off the radar for the past year. After the Justice Department closed its investigation of the SBC in 2025, Rice was criticized for social media comments saying “there was no systemic sexual abuse crisis or coverup in the SBC.”
This meeting appeared to be his opportunity to set the record straight. Southern Baptists are “taking extraordinary steps to address this issue,” Rice said, but he also pointed out, “I have some concerns over some of the decisions that were made over the last five years.”
Rice also noted, “I spoke about that (in the past) because that was the time to do so. But at this point, I wanted to make a positive statement about what Southern Baptists have done…. And the headline is, ‘We’ve made huge progress. We are taking it seriously.’”
The convention trained a quarter-million church and entity staff and parents in abuse prevention, ultimately hired an expert to lead the work within the denomination rather than set up an outside agency, and paid $13 million in investigation and legal fees related to claims.
The “sexual abuse reform movement,” Rice told the EC, “has been one of those chapters that has sorely tested us. The tragic reality of sexual abuse was, is, and will remain a grievous wickedness and a threat that requires constant vigilance.”
SBC EC chairman Anthony Dockery (at podium) presides over the Tuesday morning (Sept. 22) plenary session of the committee. Photo by Brandon Porter
New BF&M article?
The Truth and Unity Amendment, as Southern Seminary President and its author Al Mohler calls it, dealing with women serving in the office or function of pastor, is set to receive a second vote for affirmation next June in Indianapolis. Rice said the proposed amendment to SBC Constitution stands as a marker for Southern Baptists in “an age of apostasy and idolatry.”
“The way forward…is not a mushy evangelical middle where we ‘almost’ believe something,” Rice said. “Our convention will remain vibrant and strong only to the degree that we remain biblically faithful. The lesson of our evangelical and Reformation history is clear. The threat of doctrinal drift is real, and it never drifts anywhere worth going.”
Rice described the “inflationary use” of the term pastor to mean a number of ministry positions outside the lead, preaching pastor, which is reserved to men only. He said the pastorate is not a “glass ceiling to be broken,” but a matter of biblical fidelity. Rice is rallying support for approval of Mohler’s amendment.
He is also advocating a change in the Baptist Faith & Message, which is mostly unamended since adoption in 2000. This one is on human sexuality.
“We have seen marriage redefined in ways unprecedented in human history. We have seen the very nature of humanity expressed in God’s created order rejected, as if by a stroke of a pen, one can reorder realities,” he said.
Rice went on to ask the Executive Committee to consider recommending at the annual meeting an amendment to the BF&M that clarifies marriage as between one man and one woman, and the fact that God created only two genders—male and female. This would build on language put in place by the current Article 18 on Family.
“In an age when mainline churches are hanging flags outside their building with rainbow stripes,” Rice said, “we should send a statement that in this age of apostasy, Southern Baptists intend to stand firm.”
Rice spoke briefly to the upcoming 2,000th anniversary of the Great Commission. Rice will call for a “generational effort” including a proposal at next year’s annual meeting with goals to tell every man, woman and child in the United States about Jesus by 2033 alongside reaching every unengaged, unreached people group in the world.
“I know that such a vision sounds grandiose and impossible. Because, of course, it is,” he said. “But with God, nothing is impossible.”
SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg addresses EC members during the opening session of their meeting Sept. 21 in Nashville. Photo by Brandon Porter
Iorg on tighter budget
The 85-member panel approved budget changes and work shifts that allowed the EC to redirect $660,000 to the International Mission Board, pushing IMB’s share of the Cooperative Program to 51%.
“We are at our best at the Executive Committee when we facilitate the success of others. Our work should be done without notoriety or unnecessary controversy,” EC President and CEO Jeff Iorg said. “That’s our goal as we refine our workload to fit the available resources and stay focused on our core mission in the future.”
The EC’s reduced budget includes “reduced compensation and benefits…curtailed ministry efforts, increased fees for services and…new efficiencies in several areas,” Iorg reported. The budget reflects a 12% percent decrease in operating expenses.
–Compiled from reports by Baptist Press and TAB media