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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Change allows SBC messengers to submit resolutions earlier

By Baptist Message staff INDIANAPOLIS (LBM) – Messengers to the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting now will have the opportunity to submit resolutions 14 days earlier than in previous years under a change approved during last year’s SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Resolutions can be submitted between April 1 and May 22. Additionally, the resolutions committee will meet in late May and release their initial report no later than 10 days before the start of the first session. Previously, resolutions could be submitted as early as April 15 and as late as 15 days before the start of the annual meeting. The committee then met a few days before the annual meeting to go over submitted resolutions. In “The Road to Indy” video released on March 26, SBC Committee on Resolutions Chair Kristen Ferguson outlined the changes. Ferguson, associate dean of educational effectiveness and director of online education at Gateway Seminary, said the change will allow messengers more time to consider each resolution. “This year, we still do have two-and-a-half days of in-person work time,” she said. “But then we have almost a week afterwards to publish the preliminary report. So the thing that I think that does is we get … [Read more...]

Iorg makes about face on retirement plans, prepares to ‘lead on’ in new role

By Jane Rodgers, The Baptist Paper DALLAS (The Baptist Paper) - Jeff Iorg has been discussing leadership, calling and ministry in his weekly “Lead On” podcast for nearly seven years. What he didn’t anticipate was that he would indeed continue to “lead on” in a major capacity after his time as a seminary president. “It wasn’t very many weeks ago that we were tracking toward retirement plans,” Iorg, who is 65, said of his upcoming retirement from Gateway Seminary after 20 years as president. READY FOR THE NEXT SEASON Sharing during a March 21 press conference following his election as the next president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, Iorg said he finds the turn of events surprising but that he and his wife, Ann, are committed to the move. Ann told the Baptist Standard she feels good about the change of course and that she and Jeff are excited because they both believe this next season is what God has for them. “God gives you what you need for what He has for you,” she said. Iorg explained at the press conference that he should be considered EC president-elect as he plans to finish the semester as president of Gateway, which ends with graduation May 11. He will assume the EC … [Read more...]

Jeff Iorg elected next SBC Executive Committee president and CEO

By Staff, The Baptist Paper DALLAS (The Baptist Paper) - Jeff Iorg, retiring president of Gateway Seminary, was elected as the next Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee president/CEO during a special-called trustee meeting in Dallas, March 21. Iorg transitions to the new role after 20 years at Gateway. He enters the position at a crucial moment in SBC life, as the EC copes with financial and legal challenges amid the denomination’s reckoning with sexual abuse and declining baptisms, among other concerns. “Jeff Iorg is who we have been praying for,” said search team chair Neal Hughes, director of missions and executive director of the Montgomery (Alabama) Baptist Association, in announcing Iorg’s nomination March 1. Sixty trustees were present at the March 21 meeting held at the Grand Hyatt in the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. The vote to call Iorg was unanimous. “Southern Baptists are a force for good,” Iorg said following the vote. GODSEND Hughes noted that Iorg’s “calm demeanor, communication skills, executive administrative ability and thorough knowledge of Southern Baptist life will be a godsend to the SBC.” EC chair Phillip Robertson called Iorg “a leader that all Southern … [Read more...]