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 Monday (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.”
‘Product of Southern Baptists’
First, Iorg noted that he and Ann accepted the new role because of their “appreciation and gratitude for all Southern Baptists have done for us.”
“We are a product of Southern Baptists at their best,” he noted. “We are grateful God allowed Southern Baptists to share the gospel with us, disciple us to live as Christians, educate us for Christian service, train us for ministry leadership, give us remarkable leadership opportunities and fund those opportunities with generous gifts through the Cooperative Program and other mission offerings.”
‘Force for good’
Despite the many challenges the SBC faces, Iorg went on to list a litany of reasons why he believes Southern Baptists are a “force for good.”
Among his numerous reasons, Iorg noted religious education, shaping a generation through camp experiences, caring for children and families in crisis, training leaders, college ministry, caring for hurting people, women’s ministries, using money for Kingdom purposes and generosity.
Last year, he added, Southern Baptists in nearly 47,000 churches gave more than 10 billion dollars in tithes and offerings. Those churches, he said, forwarded more than $457 million dollars through denominational giving channels, “primarily the Cooperative Program and two special mission offerings” to fund Southern Baptist missions and ministry.
“We show up in the worst circumstances. When many other mission organizations retreat, we step in,” he noted. “Our Disaster Relief workers responded to 103 disaster situations last year with hands on ministry, chaplaincy services, evangelistic outreach.
“When disaster strikes, Southern Baptists are a force for good.”
Shortfalls
He also noted Baptists do this despite their many weaknesses in a sinful world.
“We are realists,” he said, “confronting these problems while also conceding despite our efforts, they will never be fully resolved.
“We are going to keep fighting against evil,” he said, “even when it’s among us and it’s painful to admit our sins before a watching world.”
Ultimately, Iorg noted, Baptists must “reject the false narrative that we must solve these problems before we can pursue God’s eternal mission.”
He added, “We must continue to work on our shortcomings while we simultaneously pursue God’s mission — rejecting the debilitating myth we must be perfect before we can be persuasive with the gospel.”
‘Why I’m here’
Iorg noted Southern Baptists can “shape the tone of our denominational conversation, and we can set the pace on cooperation and moving forward together,” he said. “We can collectively provide the leadership to be a force for good.
“We can provide the leadership for this generation,” he added, and “set the stage for the next generation to enjoy what we had for 175 years — a denominational movement built on cooperation that evidences the supernatural blessing of God. That’s why I’m here and that’s what I envision we can do together.”
