Southern Baptists cooperative ‘force for good,’ Iorg maintains at installation

NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention is a diverse, cooperative “force for good” that is poised to move forward on mission, Jeff Iorg said at his installation as the eighth president of the SBC Executive Committee, Monday, Sept. 16, in Nashville.

Whether in Christian youth education and discipleship, church planting and development, pastoral and ministerial preparation, evangelism, national and international missions, women’s ministry or financial giving, Southern Baptists have excelled through cooperation, Iorg said, proving his assertions with numbers.

“Southern Baptists, cooperation around God’s mission is a convictional mindset worth preserving,” Iorg said. “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.”

He described himself and his wife Ann as “a product of Southern Baptists at their best,” who accepted his leadership role at the EC in appreciation for all Southern Baptists have done for the two of them.

“Southern Baptists are a compassionate, devoted, sacrificial people who obey the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment. We are on mission to share the Gospel with every person and express God’s love in every context,” Iorg said at his installation at the September EC meeting.

“We believe the Bible is truth – and while we argue often over how to interpret the Bible, we are uncompromising in our commitment to it as our absolute authority.”

He pointed to a Southern Baptist “force for good” that:

• Operates the largest missions sending agency, with more than 3,500 international missionaries deployed.
• Operates the largest domestic church planting movement with a network of nearly 47,000 churches, and
• Gave $10 billion in tithes and offerings in fiscal 2023, with more than $457 million of that forwarded to the Cooperative Program to support national and international missions.

Iorg pointed to a Southern Baptist “force for good” that:

• Operates the largest seminary system in the United States with 22,000 students preparing for ministry leadership at six SBC seminaries and their five colleges.
• Has 270,000 students enrolled in more than 50 Southern Baptist affiliated colleges and universities.

• On a typical Sunday, has more than 4 million people gathered churches for worship and 2.5 for Bible study, and

• Enjoyed more than 3,500 confessions of faith in Christ among 114,000 teenagers and children at Lifeway Christian Resources summer camps in 2024, with 1,500 of them expressing a call to ministry.

Through entities, state conventions and partners, Southern Baptists provide such services as residential care for children, adoption facilitation, collegiate ministries and financial aid to widows.

Iorg implored Southern Baptists to reject the “debilitating myth” that we must be perfect in order to persuasively spread the Gospel, but must instead work on our shortcomings while pursuing God’s mission.

“Spiritual maturation and missional advance are parallel, not sequential, experiences,” he said. “Our Gospel integrity rests on humbly and honestly acknowledging our sins, not eliminating them before we can share the Gospel with others.

“Unbelievers are willing to receive a clear witness about Jesus from authentic, imperfect believers. When our attitude is right, unbelievers are far less judgmental of us than our critics claim.”

He defended cooperation as “the best way for thousands of autonomous churches to work toward the common good of sharing the Gospel with the entire world,” despite the process “being under attack from both external critics and internal detractors.”

Continue to cooperate, he encouraged, because it works, because the Bible says we can do more collectively than by ourselves, because it expresses unity and because while our churches are autonomous, they are not independent.

“While other denominations strain to preserve loyalty through top-down control, experience doctrinal error when power is vested in a heretical few, demand financial support through assessments, and struggle to produce leaders loyal to their movement,” Iorg said, “our cooperative efforts have excelled and expanded for more than 175 years.

“We cooperate because cooperation works – producing supernatural spiritual results which reflect God’s grace, power, and favor on our movement.”

Servanthood was the focus of the installation that included many who have been impactful in Iorg’s ministry, including Burtis Williams, who led Iorg to the Christ at a county fair 50 years ago in Texas – and 25 years later – led Iorg’s mother to Christ.

Victor Chayasirisobhon, associational missions strategist for the Orange County Baptist Association, spoke of Iorg’s commitment to service. David Johnson, executive director and state missionary of the Arizona Missionary Network of Southern Baptists, testified of Iorg’s commitment to partnerships. Neal Hughes, who led the search committee that recommended Iorg as EC president, shared the selection committee’s journey to Iorg as the candidate for the post.

Williams, today a retired pastor, prayed the dedicatory prayer.

“We thank You, Father, that You have faithfully guided him through many dangers, toils and snares,” Williams prayed, “so that at this critical time in our partnership with You, Father, we have a man to lead us who realizes and honors the Rock from which he was hewn.

“Thank You that by Your grace and his steadfast obedience, he comes to this crucial position a tested and proven vessel. And, Father, tonight with one heart, we pledge our faithful, unwavering support for him, for his dear wife and children and grandchildren and the team that he leads.

“And Father, we plead for your wisdom and grace in the days ahead for Dr. Jeff Iorg, for the Southern Baptist Convention, in the name of our Risen Savior, Amen.”

___

This story first appeared in The Baptist Press.