[1]NASHVILLE (BP) – The search for a new president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee (EC) may be nearing a completion. The EC will hold a special-called meeting on May 1 in Dallas to consider a recommendation from the search team.
“Over the last 14 months, the search team has diligently prayed, discussed, and worked to identify the person to best lead the SBC Executive Committee through its present challenges and into a brighter future for our Committee and Convention,” search team chairman Adron Robinson said in a statement. “As a search team, we are confident the candidate we are presenting represents the humility, wisdom, administrative skill and Christlikeness necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.”
The meeting is scheduled for Noon on May 1 at the Grand Hyatt DFW. It will be held in executive session and is scheduled for Dallas “to expedite and simplify travel” for the 86 members of the EC, according to an EC press release.
The name of the candidate will be made available at a later date, according to the release.
Members of the search team are:
- Mollie Duddleston (Springdale, Ark.)
- Mike Keahbone (Lawton, Okla.)
- Jeremy Morton (Woodstock, Ga.)
- Philip Robertson (Pineville, La.)
- Adron Robinson (Country Club Hills, Ill.)
- David Sons (Lexington, S.C.)
In addition to the members elected to the search team in February 2022, then-chairman Rolland Slade (El Cajon, Calif.) and current chairman Jared C. Wellman (Arlington, Texas) served on the committee as ex officio members.
[2]“The President Search Team of the SBC Executive Committee would especially like to thank every member and church of the Southern Baptist Convention for their prayers during this very important process. Knowing our brothers and sisters in Christ were lifting us before the Lord helped strengthen and sustain us along this journey. Throughout the process the search team has also sought insight from Southern Baptists of all stages and stations of Southern Baptist life. We are also thankful for every person who has extended help and kindness to us along the way,” Robinson said.
The EC formed [3] the search team in February 2022 following the resignation [4] of Ronnie Floyd in October 2021.
Floyd began his tenure as president in May 2019, just months after a report was published by the Houston Chronicle on sexual abuse in the SBC. He worked with then-EC chairman Mike Stone and then-SBC President J.D. Greear on the creation and implementation of a repurposed Credentials Committee to provide an avenue for the Convention to disfellowship churches that poorly handle sexual abuse claims, exhibit racism, hold to doctrine that does not align with the Convention’s confession of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, or violate its governing documents.
During his tenure as EC president, Floyd navigated several crises including the cancellation of the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a time of racial unrest in America following the murder of George Floyd.
Floyd resigned in 2021 following the EC’s vote to waive attorney-client privilege [5] for the independent, third-party investigation of the EC’s alleged mishandling of sexual abuse claims. Messengers at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting called for the investigation and waiving of privilege.
Willie McLaurin has served as the EC’s interim [6] president/CEO since February 2022. He joined [7] the EC in December 2019 as the vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization.