Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg championed increased giving to international missions in his June 9 report to the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting, also commending the findings of a Special Needs Ministry Task Force.
He encouraged messengers to approve the 2026–2027 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget giving 51 percent of national CP receipts to the International Mission Board, as well as the findings of the Special Needs Ministry Task Force messengers mandated the EC to establish last year.
Ultimately, he encouraged messengers to join the Executive Committee in focusing on God’s eternal mission of taking the gospel to the lost.
“My goal in leading the Executive Committee is to handle your myriad of issues, ideas, demands, suggestions and assignments efficiently so our primary focus will be God’s eternal mission. What we do at the Executive Committee should be interesting to Southern Baptists, but not particularly newsworthy or controversial,” Iorg said. “The big news Southern Baptists should care about, talk about, pray about, and celebrate is missionaries sent, churches started, leaders trained and supported, and — most of all — lives changed through conversion and discipleship.”
Heroes of the faith “must be missionaries and pastors who are leading our missional advance,” he said, “not social media commentators policing our efforts or administrators managing our machinery. Our hallway conversations must be about leading people to Jesus rather than denominational gossip.”
The designation of 51 percent of national CP dollars for IMB, along with the Executive Committee not receiving any priority allocation for legal expenses, together are expected to fuel an additional $2 million toward global missions next fiscal year. The increase in CP giving to IMB fulfills a mandate messengers approved more than a decade ago.
While several SBC entities gave a portion of their CP receipts to meet the mandate, the EC’s contribution is requiring the entity to adjust expenses, Iorg told messengers.
“Reducing our Cooperative Program allocation by $660,000 has implications for the Executive Committee,” Iorg said. “We will be considering options like reducing compensation and benefits, curtailing some ministry efforts, increasing fees for services, and looking for efficiencies in every department.
“We know you want us to make these changes because of the decisions you have made over the past five years,” he said, “which mandate a streamlined Executive Committee focused more narrowly on its core functions. We hear you and we are responding accordingly.”
To that end, the EC will evaluate its governing documents and bring necessary changes to messengers in 2027, Iorg said. He described the EC’s role as limited, essential and behind-the-scenes in facilitating the work of the SBC — mainly the annual meeting and its results — and serving the SBC entities.
“We’re at our best at the Executive Committee when we facilitate the work of others, including all aspects of this annual meeting and the continuing work of your entities without notoriety or too much controversy,” Iorg said. “That’s our goal as we refine our workload to fit the available resources and stay within the limited but very important role you expect us to fulfill.
“Your Executive Committee staff is not discouraged by these changes. Like you, we want more money spent getting the gospel to the nations. We’re willing to do our part, particularly the staff who’ll be impacted by these changes.”
Iorg described the Special Needs Ministry Task Force as the best kind of task force, one that focused on reaching underserved people and communities with the gospel instead of “reshaping internal bureaucracy.”
“You will hear from Task Force members tomorrow as part of our recommendation,” Iorg said. “My hope is this report will be adopted enthusiastically and implemented broadly across the SBC.”
Iorg continues to describe the SBC as a “force for good.”
“Many of you share those convictions, and we celebrate our progress as we consider the evidence of God’s blessing coupled with your hard work,” he said. “When we focus on the reason the SBC was created — God’s eternal mission — we are a powerful collective of cooperating churches changing the world.”
Iorg celebrated the 260,000 baptisms in churches in 2025, marking a 5 percent increase from the previous year, and the 30,000 baptisms missionaries reported abroad. Church attendance increased by 3.6 percent, with nearly 4.5 million people worshiping in Southern Baptist churches each week, and Bible study increased by about 3.2 percent, attracting more than 2.6 million weekly, according to the SBC Annual Church Profile.
Added to that are the 699 new churches the North American Mission Board mobilized planters to start last year, annual record-setting in giving to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering five of the last seven years, and the 3,000 chaplains commissioned by NAMB, many of them deployed with the military.
The six SBC seminaries enrolled more than 25,000 students last year, Iorg said, contributing to their status as six of the 10 largest seminaries nationwide, and “the backbone of conservative theological and ministerial training for the global church.”
Iorg also reported positive progress in ongoing EC work, including the approval of an accountability letter in line with the new Business and Financial Plan messengers approved in 2025; the creation of a free online trustee training course available across the SBC; continued defense in legal matters as related expenses continue to decrease; and the launch of the Fortify Initiative to equip associations to provide training in sex abuse prevention and response.
“While we have not resolved all of our legal challenges, our overall case load has declined and our overall legal expenses have decreased,” he said. “We are grateful, Southern Baptists, for steady progress in the right direction. We also continue to manage systems and provide resources to assist Southern Baptists with sexual abuse prevention and response.”
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.