Southern Baptists’ top governing body has chosen its first permanent leader in nearly two and a half years, despite its own stumbling blocks to resolve issues and navigate the turmoil of controversies ranging from sexual abuse scandals to financial battles. new president.
Jeff Iorg, the longtime president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s only seminary outside the heart of the historic Bible Belt, will be the next president and CEO of the denomination’s executive committee. He was unanimously selected Thursday by committee members who met near Dallas.
Mr. Iorg has served as president of Gateway Theological Seminary since 2004. He oversaw the school’s name and location change in 2016 when the former Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary moved its main campus from the San Francisco area to Ontario, California, near Los Angeles. We currently have multiple campuses in the West and online. Total full-time and part-time enrollment is 1,499, according to data from the Association of Theological Seminaries.
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Mr. Iorg recently announced his plans to retire from the seminary, but has agreed to be considered for a position on the executive committee, which he assumes on May 13.
Iorg said he is grateful for the denomination he serves. “I came to believe in Jesus Christ because of the witness of the Southern Baptist Church,” he said at a news conference Thursday, noting that he earned degrees from denominational colleges and seminaries.
He and his wife “are Southern Baptist products and are grateful to serve Southern Baptists at this time in their lives,” Iorg said.
Presidential Search Team Chairman Neil after Jeff Iorg (right) was named the next president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee on March 21, 2024 in Dallas, Texas・Hugs with Mr. Hughes (left). (Adam Covington/Baptist News via AP)
“Leadership is important and Dr. Iorg is a leader of leaders,” said Philip Robertson, chairman of the commission, which is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the country’s largest Protestant denomination.
Iorg replaces Ronnie Floyd, who resigned as chairman in October 2021 amid internal rifts over the handling of investigations into the SBC’s response to sexual abuse. Floyd and other committee members agreed to waive attorney-client privilege for an independent review of the church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse after a majority of the committee agreed to waive attorney-client privilege for an independent review of the church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse. He resigned.
The waiver raised concerns that the church would face increased legal liability, but it also allowed it to be more candid with Guidepost Solutions, which is conducting the investigation. Guidepost’s 2022 report concluded that SBC leaders responded to abuse survivors with “resistance, obstruction, and even outright hostility.”
In May 2023, the commission voted against naming Jared Wellman as chairman, although some urged the commission to consider interim chairman Willie McLaughlin instead. McLoughlin, who led the commission for more than a year after Floyd’s resignation, became the SBC organization’s first African-American leader.
However, McLoughlin resigned in August 2023 after it was revealed that he had provided false information about his educational background on his resume. The candidate to succeed him as interim president also declined, citing health issues in his family.
While Iorg acknowledged that the commission faces a variety of challenges, from responding to the abuse crisis to strained finances, he remains focused on the commission’s mission of “reaching the gospel to the nations.” He said he was planning to go.
Asked at a press conference whether he planned to implement any of the 17 recommendations made in the Guidepost report to the executive committee in relation to the abuse crisis, Mr Iorg said he had read the report in detail and made the recommendations. He said that it is necessary to understand it well. . “I take that report very seriously and I think it’s worth considering and acting on,” he said. “I’m not ready today to say how I’m going to react to these things individually.”
Asked about parts of the report that said female members of the executive committee were treated in a humiliating and condescending way, Iorg said her record shows how she leads. He said there was.
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“I have a long track record of promoting women in ministry leadership, overseeing women within ministry structures, and doing that effectively in a way that I think will be effective, and I will continue to do so on the executive committee. “It shows a pattern of how people behave,” he said.
The committee is still considering its response to sexual abuse. Survivors and their advocates dispute recent claims that the commission is no longer under investigation by the Justice Department over its handling of abuse cases, and a law that seeks to limit abuse lawsuits in Kentucky courts criticized the committee for approving the preliminary document.
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