[1]ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Members of the Board of Trustees for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) gathered at NAMB’s building May 5-6 where they endorsed 31 new Southern Baptist chaplains, reelected officers and expressed appreciation for trustees who are concluding their service to the Board.
After committee meetings Monday, Trustees gathered for a celebration dinner at NAMB’s building. NAMB president Kevin Ezell noted that the building, located north of Atlanta in Alpharetta, had opened 30 years ago in 1995. Ezell expressed gratitude and appreciation for the leaders who gave direction and led efforts to relocate the mission board to its current location. The building and property were paid for in full when the doors opened in 1995.
“When we walk into this building, we are standing on the shoulders of people who had a great vision of one day what God would do here,” he said. “It’s an amazing thing.”
Ezell took the time to introduce several NAMB staff members who were serving when the board relocated to Alpharetta.
The evening also featured a conversation between Ezell and Thomas Hammond, executive director and treasurer of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. After sharing an update from Georgia, Hammond told trustees he is encouraged by how state leaders, as well as national entity leaders, are working together more closely and effectively than ever before in his lifetime.
“It is a healthier time, across the board, in the SBC,” Hammond said. “We have problems, as we all know, but it’s just so much healthier.”
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During Tuesday afternoon’s full Board session, trustees received several reports and voted on several items:
- NAMB Chief Accounting Officer Donna Gardner reported that year-to-date revenue is running ahead of budget and expenses are below budget.
- Trustees unanimously approved a report that NAMB will send to the Woman’s Missionary Union which details the previous year’s spending of the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. NAMB produces the report each year.
- Clark Reynolds, who chairs NAMB’s Compensation Committee and serves as Missions Pastor for Houston’s First Baptist Church, reported that the committee had completed a review of NAMB’s compensation structure. Every three years NAMB’s trustees engage an outside compensation firm to evaluate salary levels and make recommendations on salary levels.
- In a unanimous vote, trustees approved a recommendation from the Finance Committee to reengage the accounting firm of Batts, Morrison, Wales and Lee (BMWL) as NAMB’s outside, independent auditing firm. BMWL is a respected firm with worldwide reach and expertise in non-profit organizations. Each year BMWL conducts an independent audit of NAMB’s finances and business practices and reports its findings directly to trustees.
- The Finance Committee received a report from NAMB’s internal auditor, and the full board had an opportunity to recognize her and thank her for her work. NAMB’s internal auditor reports directly to the trustees.
- Trustees serving on NAMB’s Chaplains Commission endorsed 31 new chaplains.
- Rick Frie, retired pastor of First Baptist Church Jenks, Okla., who chairs the Evangelism Committee, shared that in 2024, Southern Baptists recorded a 10 percent increase in baptisms, marking the first time in more than 30 years that Southern Baptists have seen four consecutive years of increased baptisms.
- Trustees voted unanimously to reelect Board officers to their current roles for another term. Jonathan Jarboe, a member of Pathway Church in Redland, Calif., will continue as chair; Jeff Young, executive pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, will continue as first vice chair; and Josh Reavis, a pastor at North Jacksonville Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., will continue as second vice chair.
- Ezell thanked several trustees as they concluded their service to NAMB’s Board after the meeting. Included in the group were Frie and Reynolds as well as Harry Smith, a member of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn.; Joe Youngblood, a member of Millbrook Baptist Church in Aiken, S.C.; Bill Lighty, a member of River Church in Monument, Colo.; Briana Weathersby, a member of Transcend Church in Harrisburg, Pa.; and Frank Williams, pastor of Wake Eden Church in Bronx, N.Y.
In his report to trustees, Ezell expressed gratitude for the missionaries and leaders who had served NAMB in all its preceding iterations during the 180-year history of the mission board. Reading from 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 where Paul addressed skirmishes that had arisen with some saying, “I follow Paul” and others saying, “I follow Apollos,” Ezell cautioned against granting too much credit to human efforts.
“Paul is saying, ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth,’” Ezell said. “It’s only God who gives the growth.”
Ezell said it is a unique privilege to be able to have a role in what God is doing through the work of NAMB given the ministry’s history of missions in North America, but it is important to maintain a proper perspective and keep focus on the Lord who accomplishes the work.
“I am grateful that God used some as instruments to do what they did,” he said. “But we are where we are because God caused the increase.”
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