Geoff Hammond resigns as NAMB president,
ending 26-month administration

Updated 08/12/09
 

ALPHARETTA – Geoff Hammond resigned as president of the North American Mission Board on August 11 during a special called meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Hammond’s 26-month administration had come under increasing criticism during the past year for chronic morale problems and leadership issues. Three of his closest associates – Dennis Culbreth, Steve Reid, and Brandon Pickett – also resigned.

Reid, senior associate to the president for strategy development, and Pickett, communications team leader, served on the staff with Hammond at the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia state convention. Culbreth was a trustee and member of the search committee that called Hammond, as well as pastor of River Oak Baptist Church in Chesapeake, Va.

Hammond served as senior associate director of the state convention.

The resignations bring to an end a rocky relationship between Hammond and trustee officers who charged that Hammond exhibited a lack of willingness to work with them, that bordered on insubordination. Trustees said they had met repeatedly with Hammond during his two years but saw little improvement.

Trustees met for more than 7 hours in the closed-door session to determine the future of the administration. Fifty-four of the agency’s 57 trustees gathered for the special meeting, four of whom participated by conference call.

It was an especially long and difficult day for many of the trustees. Half of them were not on the Board to experience the change of the previous administration just three years prior, and it was the very first meeting for 11 members who were not expecting to attend their first meeting until October.

At 7:30 p.m., Board Chairman Tim Patterson met briefly with media and announced the resignations but declined to answer questions. He did say any further details would be announced in the coming days.

In a prepared statement Patterson, of Jacksonville, Fla., thanked trustees for working through “some very difficult issues. They have carried out their responsibilities today in a way that has been honorable, thorough and fair.

“Dr. Hammond has resigned as president of the North American Mission Board and his resignation takes effect immediately. In addition, three of Dr. Hammond’s closest associates – Steve Reid, Dennis Culbreth and Brandon Pickett – will resign their positions as well.

“Even though the subject of today’s meeting has been the topic of much media speculation, it is important to remember that this is a personnel matter and we will keep the details of today’s discussion confidential.”

Patterson continued, saying, “As you can imagine, these last few days have been very challenging for Dr. Hammond and his family, our trustees and the employees and missionaries of the North American Mission Board. We will continue to be in prayer for Dr. Hammond, his family, and for the families of the others who have resigned.”

He then thanked Southern Baptists for their prayers and asked for their ongoing spiritual support.

“We have much work left to do as we seek God’s guidance in these days. I still believe that God has great plans for the North American Mission Board and that NAMB will play a key part in the Southern Baptist effort to reach North America for Christ.”

No statement was made regarding the employment future of Bob Atwell, who joined Hammond’s administrative inner circle the day before. His hiring by Hammond was a bone of contention with trustees who wanted input in the process.

Trustees had been working with Hammond for the past several months to employ an individual with strong administrative and leadership skills to run the agency on a daily basis. The plan was to free up Hammond so he could be out of the office to network partnerships and speak on behalf of the agency.

That plan took a different direction when Hammond recently had the position downgraded from one similar to that of a Chief Operating Officer that required Board approval to one that did not require approval, in effect giving himself control of whom he hired.

Atwell, director of missions for Loudon County Baptist Association in Lenoir City, Tenn., is an associate of Hammond’s from his missionary days in Brazil. The hiring was viewed by trustee officers as one more example of Hammond’s lack of willingness to work with them.

Atwell had served as a pastor of one church, a field missionary, and director of missions for the 40-church association in rural east Tennessee. He would have been a powerful figure in operating the $130 million agency.

 

To read background stories on this topic, click here.

 

To keep current on future NAMB developments and on other topics of interest to Georgia Baptists, subscribe today by clicking here.

 

Related stories:   NAMB trustees to consider removal of agency's president   NAMB full board to meet Aug. 11 in called session