ALPHARETTA, Ga. – North American Mission Board (NAMB) trustees gathered in Alpharetta May 4-5 for two days of meetings marked by reports of significant progress.
That progress included news that in 2025 baptisms continued their upward trend. In addition, the “Class of 2025” church plants included the highest number of new plants in nearly a decade. And finally, Southern Baptists passed a milestone of more than 12,000 churches started since 2010.
After committee meetings during the afternoon, trustees gathered for a dinner Monday evening that spotlighted the work of NAMB’s evangelism team.
Shane Pruitt, director of Next Gen Evangelism for NAMB, said people often ask him what God is doing among young people.
“I just know God is up to something,” Pruitt said. “And we’re in this moment. And I don’t know about you, but I want to be a part of it, and I certainly don’t want to get in the way of it.”
Later came a panel conversation about NAMB evangelism resources including the new “Gospel Coach” app that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to allow people to practice having Gospel conversations with non-believers.
Trevin Wax, vice president of NAMB’s Resources and Marketing group, said the goal of the application is to help people feel more prepared for a Gospel conversation.
“If you can increase the confidence of the person that’s sharing the Gospel so they say, ‘I can do this. I can have a conversation with a person because I’m not going to let that hold me back.’ That’s what we want,” said Trevin Wax, vice president of NAMB’s Resources and Marketing group. “We want to see more people sharing the Gospel.” Wax’s group helped design the new resource.
“No matter what stage of life you’re in, you’re going to run up to someone who has objections or questions that you feel ill-prepared to answer,” said Tim Dowdy, NAMB’s vice president of evangelism. “It’s a great tool to utilize to help solve the dilemma.”
Another panel highlighted church plant successes outside the South, including two in Las Vegas that have launched in the last 18 months with 500 or more in attendance.
“Because of faithful Gospel presence, over decades, the baseline for church planting has changed,” Travis Ogle said. “And it has accelerated new work.” Ogle serves as senior vice president of Send Network and chief operating officer of NAMB.
Trustees convened Tuesday for their formal board meeting, where they received reports and acted on ministry and governance items.
Voting on officers to lead the board, trustees elected Jeff Young as chairman. Young serves as executive pastor of Champion Forest Bapst Church in Houston. Josh Reavis, pastor of North Jacksonville Baptist church in Florida, was elected first vice chair and John Mark Harrison, pastor of First Baptist Concord in Knoxville, was elected second vice chair. All three votes were unanimous.
In other reports and actions:
- Trustees approved a report to the Woman’s Missionary Union detailing how last year’s Annie Armstrong Easter Offering was spent. Everything given to the offering is spent on the mission field, and funds are spent as they come in.
- NAMB CFO Donna Gardner reported that Cooperative Program revenue for NAMB is down for the year but the Annie Offering is running ahead of budget. Year-to-date actual expenses are running 4.8 percent below budget.
- Trustees approved an AI policy for NAMB and Send Relief that establishes a steering committee that will implement policy and help integrate AI technology across the ministries.
- Trustees in attendance who are concluding their service in June were also recognized. Bill Coffey, pastor of Pinecrest Baptist Church in Silsbee, Texas; Tommy Mitchell, pastor of Agricola Baptist Church in Lucedale, Miss.; Brian Nall, a member of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla.; and Gevan Spinney, pastor of Haughton First Baptist Church in La., were each recognized. Isaiah Turner, pastor of First Baptist Henryville, Ind.; Bill Wright, pastor of Trinity Baptist, Vicksburg, Miss.; Amy Thompson, a member of Redeemer Church, Lubbock, Texas; and David Amiss, a member of Poplar Springs Baptist Church in Zebulon, N.C., have also already concluded or will conclude their terms of service in June.
In his address to trustees, Ezell shared last year’s strong church planting report. Southern Baptists planted 699 new churches in 2025, the most since 2016. An additional 93 churches were replanted. With 32 new campuses and 127 new affiliations, Southern Baptists saw a total of 951 congregations added in 2025.
Ezell reminded trustees that the number of church plants is not the metric NAMB is most interested in: “It’s the survivability rate we are after. The four-year survivability rate while the funding is going and how they stay attached [to Southern Baptists]. And that’s what we’re most excited about. It is right at 90 percent.”
After reviewing NAMB’s seven ministry assignments from the Southern Baptist Convention, Ezell outlined the importance of staying focused and committed to what God has given the entity to do at this moment in time.
He shared insights from King David’s life based on Acts 13:36: “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep…” (ESV).
“David’s life wasn’t perfect,” Ezell said. “He had failures, blind spots, and seasons of struggle. Yet Scripture summarizes him not by his mistakes. His life was not measured by doing everything, but by doing what God assigned him to do in his generation.”
We must be careful not to be tempted by over-reach, Ezell cautioned, or distraction.
“Now, not every opportunity is your assignment,” Ezell said. “Faithfulness often looks less like expansion and more like focus.”
Jonathan Jarboe, a member of Pathway Church in Redland, Calif., will conclude his term as chairman of the NAMB Board of Trustees in June, but continues on as a board member for two more years. He closed the meeting by thanking fellow trustees for the opportunity to serve them.
“It has been a great privilege,” Jarboe said, “and will continue to be a privilege to serve at the North American Mission Board with you all.”
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