A statement signed by 41 pastors and various other Southern Baptist leaders has been distributed, affirming the integrity and achievements of Bob Reccord, former president of the North American Mission Board.
Mike Hamlet, pastor of First Baptist Church, North Spartanburg, and Don Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, were among the pastors who signed the statement.
Reccord resigned April 17, citing “honest philosophical and methodological differences” with NAMB’s trustees that “have brought us to this point of separate directions.” He had led the mission board since its creation in 1997 as part of the SBC “Covenant for a New Century” restructuring.
Reccord’s resignation followed a March 24 special meeting of NAMB’s 58-member trustee board, who voted to place Reccord under “executive level controls” concerning issues addressed in a 19-page report by a nine-member trustee task force. An article in the Georgia Baptist Convention’s newsjournal, The Christian Index, prompted the creation of the task force in mid-February.
The 13-paragraph statement by Reccord’s supporters, issued April 21, said Reccord had “acted with integrity and character throughout his nine-year tenure as NAMB’s president and never more so than in these last tumultuous weeks.” Among the signers were five former SBC presidents; three state convention executive directors; 27 pastors; and one Baptist university president.
The April 21 statement by various SBC leaders noted: “Where he (Reccord) has made misjudgments, he has freely acknowledged them and assumed responsibility. But these are mistakes of the head, not the heart – the kinds of misjudgments that innovative leaders make in an effort to accomplish things that have never been done before.”
The statement acknowledged: “Despite our belief in Bob’s leadership, we recognize that the President and the Board of Trustees of any organization must be of like mind both philosophically and methodologically. Sometimes honest differences of opinion about leadership style or strategy dictate the need for change… .
“We therefore respect and affirm Bob’s decision to step down as president of NAMB for the sake of the Agency and its more than 5,000 missionaries. In fact, this action heightens our respect for his character and demonstrates his willingness to do what is best for the Kingdom even if it results in personal sacrifice.”
The statement commended Reccord for his leadership in several specific areas: “an unprecedented focus on reaching our large metropolitan areas, resulting in more than 320 healthy new church starts in strategic cities alone”; the Nehemiah church planting partnership with the SBC’s six seminaries, “training hundreds of new church planters to reach the most desperate areas of our continent”; growth of the World Changers program to nearly 25,000 high school students engaged in rehabilitating inner-city homes, up from 9,000 students before NAMB was created; coordination of “unprecedented disaster relief efforts by Southern Baptists, who brought hope and help to New York residents after 9/11 and were widely recognized as one of the few bright spots in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma”; and “increased efficiencies at NAMB” through which “millions of additional dollars went into the mission field through state cooperative budgets and new initiatives than would have been available if the (SBC) restructuring had not occurred.”
The statement concluded: “We believe these circumstances have been used by God to forge Bob for even greater ministry in the days ahead. We pledge our support to help make that happen. And we remain proud to call him a friend and the founding President of the North American Mission Board.”
Signers of the letter of support include:
Former SBC presidents Jack Graham, senior pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Tex.; Jim Henry, former senior pastor, First Baptist Church, Orlando, Fla.; James Merritt, senior pastor, CrossPoint Community Church in the Atlanta area; Jerry Vines, former senior pastor, First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla.; and Ed Young, senior pastor, Second Baptist Church, Houston, Tex.
State convention executive directors David Clippard, Missouri Baptist Convention; Steve Davis, State Convention of Baptists in Indiana; and Anthony Jordan, Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.