Gateway Seminary president Jeff Iorg could be become the new president/chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Executive Committee. — Baptist Press photo
SEYMOUR — It took more than two years, a change in committees and a lot of ups and downs, but the search for a new president/chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Executive Committee appears to be over.
The Executive Committee will meet in a special called meeting March 21 to approve the nomination of Jeff Iorg.
When the vote is tallied and should Iorg be approved, Tennessee pastor Corey Cain and the other members of the EC search committee can breathe a sigh of relief.
Cain, pastor of First Baptist Church, Seymour, shared some insights on how Iorg, who is retiring as president of Gateway Seminary in Ontario, Calif., came to be the nominee.
Less than two months ago, the committee was prepared to offer the name of Thomas Hammond during the February meeting of the EC, but on Jan. 23 the committee had to announce that Hammond had withdrawn his name from consideration.
“I was disheartened,” Cain freely admitted.
Cain
But as he reflected on the process, he noted that despite the difficulty and things that were hard to understand, “we can see God’s Hand in every step of it.”
Cain is convinced that Hammond’s decision to withdraw his name will turn out to be a “defining day” for Southern Baptists because despite being recommended for the position before, Iorg had been unwilling to move forward.
“From what I have heard from Jeff, I believe that was the day that God laid on his heart that he needed to allow his name to be considered.”
Within a few days of Hammond’s announcement, the committee felt it did not have to start the process over, Cain said. “We were not starting at ground zero. We had worked a process and we still had some candidates to consider,” he said.
The process included returning to people who had been nominated but had chosen not to go forward with it.
Iorg was among those nominees, Cain said. “We set a date for them to respond and that is how Jeff’s name came out on top.”
Cain described Iorg as a man of “high integrity” and one who is well respected across the Southern Baptist Convention.
Search chairman Neal Hughes of Alabama told Baptist Press that Iorg “is who we have been praying for.”
He also shared with BP that Iorg’s “calm demeanor, communication skills, executive administrative ability and thorough knowledge of Southern Baptist life will be a God-send to the SBC.”
Cain agreed with that assessment, but also added that Iorg “is going to be driven by our mission” of cooperating to take the gospel around the world. “That’s what drives the Cooperative Program and that’s what makes us effective,” he said.
Iorg will bring the convention back to “what’s important and what should be driving everything we do. He will keep our mission as our focus.” B&R
