October 1, 2026
ORLANDO, Fla. — Southern Baptist Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg told messengers Tuesday that Cooperative Program giving remains steady, legal expenses are declining, and the Executive Committee is working to narrow its focus so Southern Baptists can keep their attention on sharing the gospel, making disciples, and strengthening churches.
In his report to messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Orlando, Iorg said the Executive Committee continues to make “steady progress in the right direction” while addressing concerns related to finances, legal matters, accountability, sexual abuse prevention, and the proposed Cooperative Program allocation budget.
“You assigned me this role about two years ago with the expectation that pressing concerns would be addressed so we can focus more intently on our core mission of sharing the gospel, making disciples, and building strong churches,” Iorg said.
Iorg reported that Cooperative Program giving in the first eight months of the fiscal year is “virtually the same” as the same period last year, with Southern Baptist churches giving more than $126 million through the Convention’s unified giving plan.
Some had expressed concern that a priority allocation for Executive Committee legal expenses in the current budget would erode Cooperative Program giving, Iorg said.
“My friends, that has not happened,” he said. “Thank you, pastors and leaders, for staying the course.”
Iorg said the budget being presented for the next year does not include a priority allocation for the Executive Committee and would increase the International Mission Board’s share of the national Cooperative Program allocation to 51%.
He said those are the key differences between the proposed 2026-27 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget and last year’s budget. Together, Iorg said, those changes would shift more than $2 million in new funding to the IMB beginning in October 2026.
“These changes are possible because entity presidents came together to make them happen,” Iorg said.
Every SBC entity that receives Cooperative Program funding, including the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the North American Mission Board, all six seminaries, and the Executive Committee, agreed to reduce its allocation so more money could be sent to the IMB, he said.
The Executive Committee is making the largest contribution, Iorg said, both by forgoing any further priority allocation and by reducing its current CP allocation by about $660,000, or 12%.
Those reductions will require changes at the Executive Committee, he said, including possible reductions in compensation and benefits, curtailing some ministry efforts, increasing fees for services, and seeking efficiencies in every department.
“We know that you want us to make these changes because of the decisions you have made over the past five years as you have voted repeatedly to streamline the Executive Committee and ask us to focus more narrowly on our core functions,” Iorg said. “We hear you, and we are responding accordingly.”
Iorg described the Executive Committee’s role as “limited but essential,” saying its task is to facilitate the work of the SBC, including the annual meeting and the continuing work of the Convention’s entities.
Iorg also addressed legal matters, saying the Executive Committee continues to manage litigation on behalf of the Convention. He said the EC is still awaiting a ruling from the Tennessee Supreme Court in the Garner case, while the Hunt and Sills cases are scheduled for trial later this year.
“While we have not resolved all of our legal challenges, our overall caseload has declined, and our overall legal expenses have decreased,” Iorg said.
He also reported continued work in sexual abuse prevention and response. The Executive Committee has released updated Essentials 2.0 training materials, translated them into Spanish, and is working on Korean, Mandarin, French, and Portuguese translations.
Iorg also announced a new initiative with associational leaders called Fortify, designed to help Baptist associations train churches in sexual abuse prevention and response.
“This is a great example of cooperation as Southern Baptist leaders maximize relational connections to solve problems at the grassroots level,” he said.
The Executive Committee continues to operate a national helpline and has expanded services to survivors, pastors, and other church leaders addressing abuse-related issues, Iorg said. He added that the EC has mapped out strategies for 2027 to keep sexual abuse prevention and response a priority.
Iorg also highlighted the revised Business and Financial Plan adopted by messengers last year. He said SBC entities have worked with the Executive Committee to implement the plan, and he praised entity chief financial officers for their cooperation.
The revised plan includes more accessible reporting, along with new accountability letters that will be published in the SBC Annual later this year, Iorg said. He also pointed to the release of a new SBC trustee training course in January, calling it part of an effort to strengthen the trustee system as the foundation of accountability, transparency, and trust.
“We are committed to strengthening the trustee system as the foundation of accountability, transparency, and trust in governing our entities,” he said.
Iorg closed his report by returning to what he called “mission discipline,” a phrase he used in his first address as Executive Committee president two years ago. He said the Convention must address necessary matters without allowing them to eclipse its central purpose.
“The mission matters most,” Iorg said. “That simple phrase reminds me to prioritize God’s eternal mission while also still recognizing that other matters need some appropriate attention.”
Iorg said the biggest news Southern Baptists should celebrate is missionaries sent, churches started, leaders trained, pastors supported, and lives changed through conversion and discipleship.
“Our heroes must be missionaries and pastors who lead our mission advance, not social media commentators policing our efforts or administrators managing our machinery,” he said. “Our hallway conversations must be more about leading people to Jesus than the latest amendment or bylaw change.”
Iorg pointed to several signs of gospel advance across the Convention, including more than 260,000 baptisms last year, marking five consecutive years of increased baptisms. He said 32 state conventions reported more baptisms than the previous year, and church attendance increased by 3.6%, the fourth straight year of growth.
He also noted that IMB missionaries reported nearly 30,000 baptisms last year, took the gospel to more than 1,800 unreached people groups, and shared the gospel about 1.3 million times. NAMB helped start 699 new churches last year, the highest total since 2016, he said.
Iorg said the SBC’s six seminaries enrolled more than 25,000 students last year and remain central to conservative theological and ministerial training. He also pointed to the work of Lifeway, GuideStone, ERLC, state conventions, associations, disaster relief workers, pregnancy care ministries, children’s homes, campus ministries, and other Southern Baptist efforts.
“Southern Baptists are a force for good,” Iorg said. “We are focused on God’s eternal mission.”
He acknowledged that Southern Baptists still face problems, including the need to strengthen sexual abuse prevention and response, improve entity programs, and handle bylaw changes and budget adjustments. But he said those concerns should not overshadow the gospel impact of churches working together.
“What matters most is what we do that genuinely and directly impacts people with the gospel,” Iorg said. “Southern Baptists, that’s what matters.”
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