ATLANTA — A week after resigning as president of the North
American Mission Board (NAMB), Geoff Hammond said he is glad to have played a
role in helping Southern Baptists “live with urgency” in reaching the continent
for Christ.
His remarks provide the first public response since the
day-long meeting of the NAMB trustee board that led to the resignations of
Hammond and three of his close associates.
“The events as they unfolded last Tuesday (Aug. 11) were a
shock to me. Although I am not at liberty to discuss the details, needless to
say my resignation was not for moral, ethical or fiduciary responsibility but
there were methodological differences,” Hammond told the TEXAN in an e-mail he
also made available to Baptist Press. “I still feel God led me to the North
American Mission Board for a purpose — to help Southern Baptists see North
America as a mission field and to live with urgency reaching this continent for
Christ.”
Board chairman Tim Patterson of Florida would not elaborate
on the cause of the disagreement with Hammond, stating in Aug. 11 remarks that
they “worked through some very difficult issues” and “carried out their
responsibilities today in a way that has been honorable, thorough and fair.”
Patterson thanked Southern Baptists for their prayers and
appealed for God’s guidance, adding “NAMB will play a key part in the Southern
Baptist effort to reach North America for Christ.”
Hammond was elected president by a unanimous vote of the
NAMB board in March 2007 following a nine-month search to replace the previous
president, Robert E. Reccord, who resigned as president in April 2006, citing
“honest philosophical and methodological differences.”
In response to questions posed by the TEXAN, Hammond noted:
“Just the week before we hosted our State Summer Leadership meeting with state
(convention) partners. In talking with hundreds of those partners, I felt we
had incredible momentum and synergy and were set to have one of our greatest
years ever. One of the greatest joys of my life was to lead NAMB as we created,
developed and introduced the national evangelism initiative to Southern
Baptists, GPS — God’s Plan for Sharing.
“However, despite what occurred, I am still grateful to have
had an opportunity to influence Southern Baptists to reach North America for
Christ and to help them understand that it will take missionary thinking and
practices to achieve that goal. I praise the Lord that Southern Baptists are
still so mission minded and we are still planting a new church in North America
every six hours,” he said.
“Southern Baptists have some of the most effective servants
of the Lord in their North American missionaries and partners.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Ledbetter is news editor of the Southern
Baptist TEXAN, newsjournal of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.)