Southern Baptists: A force for good

Jeff Iorg delivered a powerful message that was both personal and that was shared from his perspective as the president of the Executive Committee of the SBC at the Arizona Mission Network annual meeting, held Nov. 14 at Cross Church, Surprise.

On Jan. 23, 2024, God called him to this role. Following his tenure as president of Gateway Seminary, why would he and his wife, Ann, be willing to change direction to take on the huge responsibility of this new role?

There is a personal reason: “We took on this new responsibility at the Executive Committee in appreciation and in gratitude for all Southern Baptists have done for us,” Iorg said.

Ann was saved, raised, and educated by Southern Baptists. Iorg came to faith at the age of 13. He became an associate pastor at the age of 23. He was a church planter in Portland, Oregon, and then called to be president of Gateway Seminary, a role he filled for some 20 years. The Iorgs were saved, raised, trained and funded by faithful Southern Baptists.

“We also accepted this call because Southern Baptists at their best are a force for good,” Iorg said. “Southern Baptists are a compassionate, devoted, sacrificial people who obey the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment. We’re on mission to share the gospel with every person in the world and show God’s love in every context we encounter.”

There is also leadership perspective: Southern Baptists cooperate voluntarily because we can do more together than we can do separately, he said. Is cooperation still the best way to work toward the common goal of reaching the world? Iorg answered this question unequivocally.

“First, we cooperate because the Bible says we can do more collectively than we can do by ourselves,” Iorg said.

“Second, we cooperate because it expresses the unity we strive for in Jesus Christ,” he said.

“Third, we cooperate because our churches are autonomous but not independent,” he said. “All Baptist churches are autonomous, but Southern Baptist churches are not independent. We have agreed to subjugate our personal preferences on ministry practices, mission strategies, financial allocations, and, occasionally, even some doctrinal positions in order to work together for the overarching goal … the propagation of the gospel.”

Fourth, “we cooperate because cooperation works, producing supernatural results which reflect God’s power, God’s grace and God’s favor on our movement,” he said.

More than 4 million Southern Baptists gather in worship in the United States every Sunday, he said. Lifeway serves about 30,000 churches teaching millions of people about the Bible. Southern Baptists operate what may be the largest ministerial training effort in the world. Southern Baptists minister to families through adoption, medical care and even in the final stages of life.

Southern Baptists steward the resources the Lord provides for kingdom purposes. Last year, faithful Southern Baptists gave more than $10 billion in tithes and offerings to their churches, he said.

“Because of all of these gifts and because they’ve been given for now 100 years or longer, we have the largest mission sending agency, the largest domestic church planting movement, the largest seminary and the largest seminary system in the United States and likely the world,” Iorg said, “When it comes to generosity, working together to make global impact, Southern Baptists are a force for good.”

SBC Disaster Relief volunteers number in the tens of thousands and are deployed in many disasters every year. Last year alone, some $43 million was provided through Send Relief to meet critical needs around the world.
“Southern Baptists, because of our growing diversity, we are a force for good across more communities than any time in our history,” Iorg said.

Though we live in a world cursed by sin, we will never give up the struggle against that sin, both among the lost and within our churches, he said. While we seek to address these challenges continually, we must also continue to pursue God’s mission. We do this with humility and reliance on Almighty God.

At the Executive Committee, they make “reasonable and reasoned decisions quietly and effectively” to help Southern Baptists engage their ministries and fulfill the Great Commission without unnecessary distractions, Iorg said. Grassroots Southern Baptists across the United States want their leaders to focus on the mission.

“Southern Baptist, Arizona Baptist, cooperation around God’s mission is a convictional mindset worth preserving,” Iorg said.
The future is bright for an SBC committed to the Great Commission, he said. Every Southern Baptist can shape the tone of conversations, shape ministries and reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We just celebrated the 175th anniversary of Southern Baptists, he said, and if we are faithful to our calling, the next generation will celebrate the 250th anniversary.

In sum, Iorg’s willingness to accept his role rests on God’s call, gratitude to Southern Baptists, and his bedrock conviction that we are a force for good. His rallying cry was simply, yet powerfully, that, “Southern Baptists are a force for good.”

Philip William Calvert is senior pastor of Trinity Southern Baptist Church in Casa Grande.

Victoria White, a freelance photographer living in San Tan Valley, is the social media strategist for the Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists.