NASHVILLE (BP) — During a contentious U.S. presidential election year, Southern Baptists saw two unanimous votes for Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) entity presidents and gave record amounts to missions. We witnessed one of the worst natural disasters in American history, but also one of the largest deployments of help and hope in its wake.

Here are some of the most important stories of 2024:

1. Jeff Iorg tapped to lead SBC Executive Committee.

After two and a half years without a permanent leader, the SBC Executive Committee (EC) welcomed longtime Gateway Seminary President Jeff Iorg as president and CEO.

Iorg’s selection was announced March 1 by the second search team tasked with filling the position. The first search team dissolved in 2022 when their candidate failed to win approval. The second team got almost all the way through the process with two different candidates. One of those was found to be unqualified. The other, Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director Thomas Hammond, withdrew from consideration in January of this year.

The committee had approached Iorg before, but it wasn’t until Hammond’s withdrawal and Iorg’s impending retirement from Gateway that the timing was right. Southern Baptists gave broad support for Iorg in the role.

Iorg was elected unanimously by the full EC in a special called meeting March 21 in Dallas. At a press conference following the vote, Iorg said his goal was to lead the EC “to be a sacrificial servant of Southern Baptists.”

A month later, Gateway honored Iorg for his 20 years of service to the seminary and commissioned him for EC service. Iorg began the new role in May. Then in October, Gateway trustees announced a $2.1 million endowment for the Jeff P. Iorg School of Christian Leadership at the SBC’s only seminary in the West.

Also in October, Iorg was officially installed as EC president. At his installation service, he laid out the ways Southern Baptists are a “force for good” in the world, a theme he reiterated in numerous appearances throughout the fall.

In an in-depth interview with Baptist Press in November, Iorg and his wife Ann relayed the story of God’s work in their lives to lead them to a relationship with Him and then to various places of ministry over their 44 years of marriage.

Earlier this month, after six months into his presidency, Iorg said he was encouraged by the passion and commitment he sees among Southern Baptists. “Rank and file of Southern Baptists really believe in what we’re doing. They love our mission boards; they’re committed to our seminaries,” he said.

2. Southern Baptists respond to massive disasters.

From “heart-sinking” wildfires in the Texas panhandle and New Mexico to destructive storms in south Texas. From earthquakes and hurricanes in Cuba to the Gulf Coast’s worst hurricane season in years.

After all of them, usually within hours, Southern Baptists were there providing meals, cleanup, prayer, supplies and the hope of the gospel.

But no one could have been prepared for the widespread devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene, which brought unprecedented flooding to Florida, Georgia, East Tennessee and the Carolinas. Homes, business, roads and bridges in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina were simply washed away, leaving entire communities reeling with no idea how to begin recovering, much less rebuilding.

Volunteers coming to help often needed to be self-sufficient because there was nowhere to buy food or bed down for the night. Some churches became makeshift shelters for their members and neighbors who’d lost everything. Others became supply outposts. Other times, people couldn’t get to the church building, so they found encouragement in each other’s backyards. One Tennessee pastor said he could write a book about all the ways God has provided amid unimaginable tragedy.

The need was immense. Calls went out for more volunteers. One impromptu Disaster Relief (DR) training in Tennessee drew more than 400 people.

DR efforts began within 24 hours of Helene’s landfall in late September. One Georgia pastor said the massive effort showed the “power of Southern Baptists working together.”

Within a week, Georgia Baptists had allocated $1 million toward Helene relief. A few weeks after that, Georgia Baptist DR doubled the number of work sites to help Helene victims.

With water treatment plants destroyed and roads gone, access to clean water became a major problem. At least one North Carolina church dug a well on its property, providing clean water for neighbors at up to 50 gallons per minute.

Helene recovery will likely take years, and volunteers will be needed from all over, but through established partnerships, Southern Baptists are well positioned for the long haul.

3. Southern Baptists continue generosity.

Both the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) for International Missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO) for North American Missions reached record highs this year — $206.8 million for the LMCO and $74.7 million for the AAEO.

“This extraordinary milestone reminds us of just how much Southern Baptists love their missionaries and how committed they are to seeing people in North America and around the world reached for Christ,” said North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell. “It also displays a willingness to look beyond their own needs and give generously and sacrificially to ministry that will reap an eternal harvest.”

International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood said: “Together, Southern Baptists are taking on the world’s greatest problem — lostness — by sending and supporting missionaries to proclaim the gospel. I praise God for these record-breaking offerings — proof that Southern Baptists are more committed than ever to pursuing the lost to the very ends of the earth.”

Total giving to national and international causes through the Cooperative Program was just over $191 million, which, though around 2% below budget goals, was an impressive number, SBC EC President Jeff Iorg said.

“Given national economic uncertainties and internal denominational challenges, this was a remarkable year of steadfast giving by our churches,” Iorg said. “Missionaries, seminary students, church planters and a host of other need-meeting ministries were sustained by this generous giving.

“As we press forward, my hope is (that) enhancing confidence in national denominational efforts will motivate churches to begin increasing the percentage of undesignated receipts given through the Cooperative Program.”

4. ‘Law Amendment’ fails.

A proposed amendment to the SBC Constitution that received two-thirds approval at the 2023 SBC annual meeting in New Orleans failed to achieve that margin at this year’s meeting in Indianapolis, thus falling short of adoption.

The amendment, nicknamed for Virginia pastor Mike Law who first proposed it at the 2022 meeting in Anaheim, would have added a sixth qualification for a church to be deemed “in friendly cooperation” with the convention, namely any church that “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.”

The amendment was heavily debated, including in the pages of Baptist Press, which published arguments for and against.

5. Pressley wins multiple-ballot presidential vote.

Also in Indianapolis, Southern Baptists elected a new president in a vote that required two runoffs. North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley bested five other candidates and received 56.12% of the vote in the second runoff.

“There’s a lot to celebrate within in the Southern Baptist Convention, especially as it points to biblical fidelity, real clear mission focus,” Pressley said in a press conference after his election, referencing that 2025 marks the 100^th anniversary of the Cooperative Program and the Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M), the SBC’s missions funding mechanism and statement of faith, respectively.

Part of the SBC president’s job, Pressley said, “is to do all you can by way of influence to make sure as a convention of churches we are focused on what our mission is. So, I look forward to next year. It’s a great time to celebrate.”

In an address before the SBC Executive Committee in September, Pressley called those two institutions — the Cooperative Program and the BF&M — the “two rails of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

6. ARITF completes work, passes reins to EC.

After two years of work, the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF), tasked with helping Southern Baptist churches prevent and respond well to sexual abuse, released recommendations which were adopted by messengers at the 2024 SBC annual meeting.

Those recommendations were:

• That the messengers of the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention affirm the objectives outlined in the 2024 Report of the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, in particular, 1) the expansion of the Ministry Toolkit, 2) the establishment of the Ministry Check website, and 3) the creation of a permanent home for abuse prevention and response, but the Convention does not require the use of any particular organization outside the Convention’s entities or commissions to accomplish these objectives.
• That the messengers of the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention urge the Executive Committee to work earnestly to complete the implementation of these objectives by recommending a structure adequate to support these objectives, by recommending the allocation of funds sufficient for the effective accomplishment of them, and to report back to the messengers to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting on actions taken in response.

The ARITF also created “Essentials,” a comprehensive curriculum designed to guide churches step by step through setting up an abuse prevention and response plan. The curriculum was unveiled at this year’s annual meeting and has been implemented in thousands of churches.

The ARITF disbanded after the annual meeting but came together once more to ship copies of “Essentials” to Baptist state conventions for distribution.

In compliance with the second ARITF recommendation, the SBC Executive Committee at its September meeting voted to create a department dedicated to ongoing sexual abuse response.

“We have had two task forces that have done difficult and hard work,” Iorg told EC members. “But it’s time to stop talking about what we’re going to do and take an initial, strategic step of action that puts into place an administrative response to this issue.”

Earlier this month, Iorg said the EC will make recommendations at its February meeting in advance of the 2025 SBC annual meeting that will address sexual abuse response and prevention. He hopes to follow through on messengers’ directive to hire someone to lead sexual abuse prevention and response and build the necessary organizational support for the position.

7. EC faces financial challenges.

The SBC Executive Committee continues to deal with financial fallout from a multi-year investigation into its handling of sexual abuse claims and lawsuits stemming from that investigation.

The entity has spent more than $12.1 million since 2021, it announced in September. The release of detailed financial information at the EC’s fall 2024 meeting was the result of a motion adopted by messengers at this summer’s SBC annual meeting.

That total includes $3.1 million related to an initial investigation conducted by Guidepost Solutions in 2021 and 2022 and more than $5 million in subsequent legal fees. The legal fees relate primarily to two defamation lawsuits brought against the SBC and Guidepost by former SBC President Johnny Hunt and former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor David Sills, both of whom are mentioned in Guidepost’s 2022 report.

Those lawsuits are ongoing, and the SBC EC is responsible for its own legal expenses as well as those of Guidepost, due to an indemnification clause in the contract that was signed when the EC retained Guidepost for the investigation.

8. Brent Leatherwood terminated and reinstated in less than 24 hours.

An announcement from Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) trustees July 22 said that Brent Leatherwood, the entity’s president since 2022, had been terminated. No reason was given in the announcement from the board’s then-chairman Kevin Smith, only a statement that details would come later.

The following day, July 23, trustees issued a new statement retracting the one from the day before.

“There was not an authorized meeting, vote or action taken by the Executive Committee,” the second statement said. “Kevin Smith has resigned as Chair of the Executive Committee. 

“Brent Leatherwood remains the President of the ERLC and has our support moving forward.”

Also on the 23^rd, Smith issued an apology and announced his resignation from the ERLC board.

“… I was convinced in my mind that we had a consensus to remove Brent Leatherwood as the president of the ERLC,” Smith said in his statement. “It is a delicate matter and, in an effort to deal with it expeditiously, I acted in good faith but without a formal vote of the Executive Committee. This was an error on my part, and I accept full responsibility.”

On Aug. 2, a statement from the ERLC board’s executive committee affirmed the group’s support for Leatherwood. The full board affirmed Leatherwood at its fall meeting in September.

9. Adam Groza elected president of Gateway Seminary.

Gateway Seminary trustees announced April 2 they had nominated Adam Groza to fill the position soon to be vacated by Jeff Iorg. Groza had been a vice president at the seminary since 2010.

He previously worked as director of admissions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and Scarborough College. He has served a number of churches in California and Texas.

Southern Baptist leaders were unanimous in their support of Groza’s nomination. “[Groza] is a man deeply committed to God’s Word, the local church, the SBC and Gateway Seminary,” said New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) President Jamie Dew. “Moreover, Southern Baptists will love his humble and down to earth leadership.”

Groza was unanimously elected April 17 and formally installed Oct. 10.

10. Matt Queen pleads guilty in DOJ investigation.

In May, Matt Queen, former professor and interim provost at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with one count of falsifying records.

Queen “allegedly failed to inform the FBI of a conspiracy to destroy evidence related to the ongoing investigation of sexual misconduct and instead produced falsified notes to investigators,” said James Smith, FBI assistant director in charge. “Queen’s alleged actions deliberately violated a court order and delayed justice for the sexual abuse victims. The FBI will never tolerate those who intentionally lie and mislead our investigation in an attempt to conceal their malicious behavior.”

Queen’s actions came during the course of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into several SBC entities. The notes Queen produced for federal investigators had to do with a meeting seminary leaders held regarding a claim of sexual abuse committed by a Texas Baptist College student.

Queen initially pleaded not guilty in May but entered a guilty plea in October. His sentencing is set for Feb. 26, 2025.

11. Southern Baptist leaders announce retirements.

Several Baptist state convention executive directors retired or announced retirements in 2024:

• Tim Patterson of Michigan, who was succeeded by Michigan native Ed Emmerling.
• Tommy Green of Florida, whose announcement came two months after Green suffered a heart attack. He recovered and continued to serve until August, when he was succeeded by Oklahoma (and former Florida) pastor Stephen Rummage.
• Randy Adams of the Northwest Baptist Convention, who plans to retire sometime in 2025.
• Terry Robertson of New York, who will serve through April 1, 2025.
• Randy Covington of Alaska, who plans to continue in his role until September 2025.
• Leo Endel of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, who will retire June 30, 2025.

A few well-known preachers and pastors also announced plans to retire:

• Steve Gaines, former SBC president and longtime pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church near Memphis, announced he will be stepping out of pastoral ministry next year. In a letter to his congregation, Gaines said the move was not related to the kidney cancer he has battled since the fall of 2023. Rather, he said, he has long felt a call from the Lord to be in itinerant ministry.
• Ed Young Sr., longtime pastor of Houston’s Second Baptist Church, announced his retirement in May.
• Beloved preacher and Beeson Divinity School professor Robert Smith also retired in May.

12. Notable Southern Baptists die.

2024 saw the deaths of several well-known Southern Baptists as well as others who perhaps were not as well-known but just as influential:

• Beloved evangelist Junior Hill died in January. Hill preached in more than 1,800 revivals, conferences and convention meetings over a 50-year ministry.
• February saw the death of beloved author and Bible teacher Henry Blackaby, who’s “Experiencing God” Bible study had an impact on millions of people around the world.
• Also in February, Rhonda Kelley, wife of longtime New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley and women’s ministry pioneer, died. Her passion fueled the start of a new and innovative program at NOBTS — the women’s ministry certificate program — that brought together theological grounding and pragmatic training for women. Launched in 1997, the program was the first of its kind among the six Southern Baptist seminaries.
• International missions leader Clyde Meador passed away in April. A former missionary to Indonesia, Meador returned to the U.S. and worked closely with four International Mission Board presidents as a top advisor and executive vice president.
• Though perhaps not a household name among Southern Baptists, Minh Ha Nguyen’s work building a cutting-edge research portal greatly influenced the SBC’s ability to share the gospel among its ethnically diverse community. Nguyen died in a drowning accident in July.
• Southern Baptist evangelist David Miller, known as a “Country Preacher at Large” for his humble, hospitable and straightforward style of Bible preaching, died in August.

Another notable death in 2024 was that of Paul Pressler. Long honored by Southern Baptists as one of the architects of the SBC’s Conservative Resurgence in the 1980s, Pressler’s legacy was sullied by sexual abuse allegations that came to light in 2017.

13. Southern Baptists grapple with in vitro fertilization.

A conversation began among Southern Baptists at their annual meeting in June that will no doubt continue in future years. Messengers adopted a resolution titled, “On the ethical realities of reproductive technologies and the dignity of the human embryo.” It calls for treating each human life with dignity, including those in an embryonic stage.

Resolutions Committee Chair Kristen Ferguson said in vitro fertilization (IVF) is a complex issue on which Southern Baptists need to say more in the future. This year’s resolution merely opens the conversation, she said.

While many media outlets reported that Southern Baptists had condemned the use of IVF altogether, members of the Resolutions Committee said that was not the case.

Applications of the relevant biblical principles “might be a little different” for various Southern Baptists, said ethicist and Resolutions Committee adviser Jason Thacker. “Some support a more ethical use of IVF. Others say” that “because of the nature of the process” and “the realities at stake, it’s best not to pursue IVF at all.”

In a piece for Baptist Press, committee member and Gateway Seminary President Adam Groza wrote that the resolution “calls upon Southern Baptists ‘to only utilize reproductive technologies consistent with that affirmation especially in the number of embryos generated in the IVF process.’ Furthermore, it commends ‘couples who at great cost have earnestly sought to only utilize infertility treatments and reproductive technologies in ways consistent with the dignity of the human embryo.’”  

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Laura Erlanson is managing editor of Baptist Press.)