NASHVILLE (BP) — Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee (EC) members addressed referrals from messengers to the 2025 SBC annual meeting, heard reports and celebrated the highest Lifeway summer camps’ missions offering in eight years at their fall meeting, Sept. 22-23.

One messenger suggestion adopted by the EC was the formation of a task force to study resources for special needs ministry available to Southern Baptist churches. A related motion to add a Disability Sunday to the SBC calendar was formally declined but with the request for the newly formed task force to consider the suggestion. See related story here.

At the recommendation of EC officers, members declined to file a countersuit against former SBC President Johnny Hunt. A motion to attempt to recover legal fees incurred defending a suit brought by Hunt in 2023 was referred to the EC in June. The decision was one of the few bringing discussion in Tuesday morning’s (Sept. 23) EC plenary session. See related story here.

Lifeway campers donated their largest missions offering since 2017 this summer. Lifeway Interim President Joe Walker presented checks totaling more than $690,000 to International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood and North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell during the EC meeting Monday night, Sept. 22. See related story here.

Also during Monday evening’s session, EC members heard from EC President Jeff Iorg and SBC President Clint Pressley. 

“My dream tonight is that Southern Baptists will recommit to cooperation in all its messy splendor and focus on our overarching mission of getting the gospel to the nations rather than being preoccupied with lesser issues,” Iorg said.

Pressley also called for unity and cooperation in his address, calling for Southern Baptists “to actually think the best of each other.

“What a good thing when someone extends the benefit of the doubt,” he said.

Credentials Committee action

EC members approved a recommendation brought by the SBC Credentials Committee to “formally recognize the discontinued relationship” of Fountain of Praise, a congregation in Houston. The church has not reported financial participation with the SBC for at least the last 10 years and demonstrated a “lack of intent to cooperate to resolve a question of faith and practice,” the committee said.

Fountain of Praise’s website lists Mia K. Wright, wife of pastor Remus E. Wright, as a co-pastor of the church, putting the church out of alignment with Article III of the SBC Constitution, which says “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

Conflicts of interest

At the suggestion of the EC’s Convention Missions and Ministry Standing Committee, the full body declined to amend Article VI of the SBC Constitution to disallow SBC entity employees or contract workers to serve as trustees, claiming SBC Bylaw 15. F already prohibits such conflicts of interest.

In compliance with a revised version of the SBC Business & Financial Plan passed by messengers in June, EC members each signed a conflict of interest form Sept. 22.

SBC diversity

In response to a motion requesting all SBC entities and the EC to “report on actions taken to elevate qualified biblical leaders from diverse backgrounds,” the EC listed several ways it already is active in this regard, including the work of the EC’s Office of Convention Partnerships.

“Additionally, the Executive Committee has, since 2011, reported on its efforts to increase ethnic participation and ethnic leadership in the Convention in its Annual Ministry Report,” the recommendation states.

“Finally, the Executive Committee now publishes a dashboard of reporting data in the
SBC Annual regarding ethnic participation on trustee boards, committees, and standing committees.”

Other business

In other recommendations adopted by members Sept. 23, the Executive Committee:

• Declined to form a study committee to clarify women’s roles in ministry leadership.
• Approved a request from the North American Mission Board to form Send Relief Puerto Rico, Inc., a nonprofit subsidiary, to make it easier for the people of Puerto Rico to contribute directly to Send Relief.
• Declined to establish an auxiliary to support and minister to pastors’ wives.
• Approved appointments of new members to various standing committees.
• Recommended a change to SBC Bylaw 19 to extend the time for notification of the makeup of the SBC’s Committee on Committees from 45 to 60 days prior to the SBC annual meeting.
• Declined to amend SBC Bylaw 20 to limit amendments to resolutions as printed in the daily bulletin at the annual meeting.
• Declined to recommend changes to the SBC ID assignment process, which currently allows for campuses of existing churches to obtain their own SBC ID numbers.
• Approved New Orleans as the proposed host city for the 2034 SBC annual meeting.
• Approved the 2025-2026 SBC EC and SBC Operating Budget in the amount of $12,068,300.
• Declined to recommend a change to the Business and Financial Plan, because the motion requesting the change referred to the previous version of the plan.
• Allocated distributions from the estate of Raymond Cutright to the Montana Southern Baptist Convention through 2030, in accordance with the desires expressed in Cutright’s last will and testament.
• Received as information that EC officers approved various amendments to the EC Personnel Policies Manual and retirement plan.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Laura Erlanson is managing editor of Baptist Press.)