The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has “a limited but essential role,” EC president and CEO Jeff Iorg reminded EC board members during their meeting June 8 in Orlando.
Finalizing the last bits of business prior to the full-scale SBC Annual Meeting (June 9–10) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, EC members received a variety of updates, approved financial reports and elected new officers.
EC officers
Current EC board officers are chair, Anthony (Tony) Dockery of California; vice chair, Adam Wyatt of Mississippi; and secretary, Nancy Spalding of Michigan. Dockery and Wyatt were both eligible for re-election and will serve a second term in their roles. Elected to her first term in the secretary’s role was Katie Creery of Georgia. The new officers begin their term of service following the annual meeting adjournment June 10.
CP budget plans
Iorg reminded EC board members the 2026–27 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget of $186 million will be among 12 recommendations going before messengers at the annual meeting.
The proposed budget is down $4 million from the 2025–26 budget of $190 million, which included a $3 million special priority allocation for SBC legal expenses that will not be part of upcoming year’s budget.
The 2026–27 budget also takes the International Mission Board’s allocation to the 51% approved by messengers in 2010. With multiple staffing changes at IMB and the EC along with the COVID-19 pandemic and the conversations (and lawsuits) around the EC’s handling of sexual abuse allegations in churches during the past 15 years, the intended methodical move to 51% for IMB stalled after 2014 at 50.41%.
Collaborative effort
With the proposed budget making the 51% a reality, all entities contributed some to accomplish the goal, Iorg said.
“These changes are only possible because entity presidents came together to make them happen. Each CP-funded entity agreed to reduce their allocation so more money could go to IMB,” he explained, noting EC is giving the most.
Assuming messengers approve the budget, the EC’s CP allocation will decrease from 2.99% to 2.65%. The North American Mission Board will go from 22.79% to 22.64%. The six seminaries and library and archives combined will decrease from 22.16% to 21.83%. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission will go from 1.65% to 1.64%.
With the changes, IMB will receive just shy of $95 million in the 2026–27 budget year. The EC will receive $4,929,000, which is a $662,300 decrease.
EC’s funding future
Iorg acknowledged the EC’s legal expenses are continuing to decrease, which helps, but the implications for how the EC operates going forward are real, he said.
“We must streamline operations and focus more narrowly on our core functions … The EC has a limited but essential function in the SBC eco-system. Limited does not mean unimportant,” he said.
“We are to facilitate the work of the convention and the entities, not do the work for them. … Someone must operate something as large and complex as the SBC. … Our structure must take care of this, nothing more and nothing less.”
EC board members likely will consider recommendations on how to restructure staffing, work assignments and overall EC focus efforts during their September meeting, Iorg noted.
Other items covered
EC members also learned of other discussions to anticipate in the coming months, heard from SBC president Clint Pressley and met in executive session at the end of the morning meeting. No official details were shared about the executive session’s purpose.
