Jeff Iorg is the man for the job. He might have been the only man for the job. He is certainly the right man at the right time, and he arrived on the scene just in the nick of time.
Iorg, of course, is the president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. He was hired one year ago and has been a stabilizing force through his humility, personality, leadership, resolve and statesmanship.
Needed stability
The EC and Southern Baptists desperately needed stability. The EC’s credibility was in shambles after six years of making news for all the wrong reasons.
The decline began when former EC president and CEO Frank Page retired in March 2018 following the disclosure of “an inappropriate relationship.” Ronnie Floyd succeeded Page in April 2019 but resigned in October 2021, his troubled presidency marked by the mishandling of sexual abuse cases, as revealed in Guidepost Solutions’ independent investigation report.
Adron Robinson, chair of the EC presidential search committee seeking Floyd’s replacement, addressed the situation after the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting.
“We know the EC has lost credibility among the messengers in the past two years. We want to make sure we are hearing clearly the direction of the messengers before moving forward with our search,” Robinson said. “It’s important to restoring future credibility.”
Unfortunately, the integrity of the subsequent two-year search process appeared anything but credible.
Former EC Trustee Board Chair Jared Wellman emerged as the prospective president/CEO candidate after participating in all candidate interviews as an ex officio member of the search committee.
Wellman quietly resigned his chair position to become the preferred candidate, but trustees resoundingly voted against him.
Willie McLaurin, interim president/CEO after Floyd’s resignation, became the leading candidate following Wellman. However, the EC presidential search committee, this time led by Neal Hughes of Alabama, discovered that McLaurin had significantly falsified his credentials and résumé. He immediately resigned as interim president.
Then Iorg stepped into this escalating kerfuffle.
Refreshing shift
The former pastor, state convention executive, and president of Gateway Seminary was named the EC’s president/CEO by unanimous vote. Everyone in the room — and across the SBC — recognized the refreshing shift.
“Today’s unanimous vote marks a significant turning point for the SBC Executive Committee and the SBC as a whole,” said Philip Robertson, EC board chairman at the time.
“You cannot overstate the importance of leadership, and Jeff Iorg is a leader among leaders. The way Southern Baptists have united around this nomination is something we haven’t seen in a long time. I am extremely grateful to God for that. It’s a new day at the EC.”
It is indeed a new day at the EC. I recently had the exclusive opportunity to interview Iorg. But it wasn’t just me. Iorg conducted a dozen or more “exclusive” one-on-one interviews with members of state convention news outlets. Each of us was assigned a 20-minute slot as he seamlessly moved from one call to the next.
Beforehand, I contacted several Tennessee Baptist pastors and asked, “What would you ask Jeff Iorg if you had the opportunity?” I distilled their thoughtful input into 19 questions that reflected concerns the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board has heard from pastors across the state. Knowing 20 minutes wouldn’t suffice to answer them all, Iorg invited me to email any remaining questions. True to his word, he responded to all of them within two hours.
Throughout our interview, Iorg was refreshingly transparent and candid, addressing financial concerns stemming from lawsuits filed against the SBC, Cooperative Program giving, perceived societal giving initiatives of the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board, the restoration of trust in the EC, and more.
Against the backdrop of the SBC Annual Meetings with individuals jockeying for prominence and advancing agendas, Iorg is a breath of fresh air.
Critical task
His first and most critical task is restoring the EC’s credibility, and he’s doing that. His optimism regarding the SBC’s potential as a network of churches globally advancing the gospel is both refreshing and contagious. This is no small vision. It’s a significant challenge, requiring the movement of denominational inertia.
But Jeff Iorg is the man for the job. He is certainly the right man at the right time, and he arrived on the scene just in the nick of time.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chris Turner and originally published by the Baptist and Reflector.
