While challenges remain, the Southern Baptist Convention is on a “healthier trajectory,” Jeff Iorg noted Monday (Sept. 22) during the SBC Executive Committee’s meeting in Nashville.
The EC’s president and CEO’s report covered a wide array of topics that included efforts to navigate financial challenges, sexual abuse reform, “meaningful conversations” regarding the possible sale of the downtown Baptist Building, a special needs ministry task force, enhancing training for all SBC entity trustees, and plans for next year’s SBC annual meeting.
“While we still have a long way to go to regain the full confidence of Southern Baptists,” Iorg noted, “we are on a healthier trajectory and pledge to continue purposeful incremental steps in the right direction.”
Financial challenges
One of the EC’s ongoing challenges involves its financial status — and how SBC messengers last June made strides to help turn things around, Iorg noted.
“We are grateful for the decision to set aside $3 million as a priority item in the upcoming years’ national Cooperative Program budget, to pay SBC Executive Committee legal and operational bills,” he said.
The EC is now, he added, “in a much stronger financial position to meet our future obligations.”
“Despite these changes,” he noted, “we are still holding the line on staffing changes, program improvements and other expenditures until we resolve these issues creating these financial uncertainties.”
SBC building
The EC also continues to pursue efforts to sell the downtown SBC Building, but the urgency to do so isn’t what it was earlier in the year, Iorg said.
“Thanks to the special budget allocation … we are now able to sell the building as a strategic choice instead of a financial necessity,” he said. “We continue to have meaningful conversations with potential buyers, and are hopeful we will resolve this issue soon.”
But Iorg noted that if selling the building is not God’s plan to meet the financial challenges, he prays the EC will be able to meet them by “some other and dramatic — and frankly — unexpected means.”
Ongoing legal challenges
Regarding ongoing legal battles, Iorg said the “operative word is waiting.”
In the Johnny Hunt case, Iorg noted, the court has dismissed all claims but one related to a social media post. “Additional motions have been filed to that remaining charge, and we are waiting for the court to rule.”
Regarding the David Sills lawsuit against the SBC and others, Iorg noted, “one major development was defendant Jennifer Lyell passing away in June.” Since then, the Sills have filed motions to discontinue the case against Lyell’s estate, but they continue the case against the SBC and other defendants.
“We are currently preparing and waiting for trial scheduled for early 2026,” Iorg said.
In the Preston and Kellie Garner case, Iorg noted it has been accepted for consideration by the Tennessee Supreme Court, and the EC is awaiting next steps in the process.
“While these delays create continued financial and operational uncertainties,” he said, “we’ll continue to manage them as best we can until they are ultimately resolved.”
But some other legal cases have been resolved since the SBC met in June, Iorg said.
Twelve pending lawsuits in North Carolina involving alleged abuse at local churches — where the SBC and the Executive Committee were named as defendants — have all been dismissed, Iorg reported. These lawsuits were “based on the theory the SBC failed to supervise local churches,” he said. Two lawsuits in Oklahoma were also dismissed, both involved similar claims against the SBC and EC.
“There are currently hearings set on motions to dismiss in lawsuits in New York, Louisiana and Texas, all involving similar claims, which we hope will be resolved soon,” he added. “These cases remind us of the continued need for meaningful progress in sexual abuse prevention and response.”
Sex abuse prevention
Since June, Iorg reported, the SBC EC has launched a new helpline and is “transitioning out of that aspect of our relationship with Guidepost Solutions.”
The EC has also launched a new website that Iorg said is “filled with helpful resources.”
“We are working now with language and cultural translations of those materials to make them available to an even wider audience,” he said. The SBC EC also hosted a sexual abuse training event in Dallas in June, and a similar event is scheduled for next year’s annual meeting.
Adoption of business and financial plan
Iorg gave an update on the revised SBC business and financial plan, which was adopted by messengers during last year’s annual meeting. He noted the EC is now working with entity leaders to “ensure its implementation and adequate reporting of required information to Southern Baptists.” Entity chief financial officers, he said, “have been outstanding partners in this effort.
The EC will publish the first versions of new accountability letters in 2026, “evaluate effectiveness, and then make further improvements along the way as we sharpen that response,” he said.
Trustee training
In 2026, Iorg noted the EC will launch a three-hour trustee training course for all SBC entities, which was produced by the EC — with support of entity presidents, other executive officers and legal counsel. He noted it will be a “generic orientation” that will provide “foundational information to solidify trustee expectations and performance.”
“It will be publicly available for potential trustees to also view during the vetting process as well as a training tool entities can use to enhance their individualized new trustee orientation processes. … This training will enhance the overall effectiveness of Southern Baptists serving in these positions.”
Special needs
On Tuesday (Sept. 23), Iorg noted, the EC will have an opportunity to approve a referral from the June annual meeting involving the appointment of an EC task force on special needs ministries. Tom Stolle, executive director of the Maryland/Delaware Baptist Convention, has agreed to chair the task force.
If approved, the task force will be tasked with presenting a report to the Executive Committee next spring to be approved and then presented to messengers at next year’s annual meeting.
“We believe this process will significantly enhance this important ministry area for Southern Baptist churches, associations, state conventions and national entities,” Iorg said.
CP allocation budget
Another referral, Iorg noted, relates to changing the national Cooperative Program budget allocation percentages to provide 51% of the national CP allocation budget to the International Mission Board.
“This has been discussed for several years,” he said. In 2024, the Convention voted for this budget change to be reflected in the 2026–2027 budget year. The Executive Committee will consider a recommendation on this matter next February “as part of our normal budget development process for presentation to the annual meeting in June 2026,” he said.
“Since this involves an allocation of resources,” Iorg said, “it will be challenging to make these adjustments, but we can do it working together.”
He noted it’s also important to note “and while circumstances may change, we do not anticipate requesting any priority Cooperative Program allocation to the Executive Committee in 2026–27 national allocation budget.”
Call for cooperation
Iorg closed his report by noting the challenge the SBC EC is having managing and distributing funds to SBC entities.
“This is becoming more challenging because of how churches and state conventions are changing the definition of Cooperative Program giving,” he said. “So far in 2025, the Executive Committee has received gifts in 33 different alternate ‘Cooperative Program’ configurations. These include all kinds of delineations, omitting certain entities and directing gifts to other entities. This is more than an accounting challenge. It is redefining the Cooperative Program as a catch-all phrase, masking a return to an old approach of societal giving.”
Iorg added, “This approach has been rejected by previous generations of SBC leaders as inadequate to fund a vast global mission enterprise.” He noted that while there are “programmatic and political reasons” for these changes, “cooperation means working willingly with people who do not agree with you on everything.”
“My dream tonight is that Southern Baptists will recommit to cooperation in all its messy splendor,” he said, “and focus on our overarching mission of getting the gospel to the nations, rather than being preoccupied with lesser issues.”
This article was originally published by The Baptist Paper.
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