Kentucky pastor Kevin Ezell is NAMB presidential nominee

BP

Kentucky pastor Kevin Ezell has been nominated president of the North American Mission Board and will be voted on by trustees in a special called meeting in Alpharetta on Sept. 14. Ezell, whose members include Southern Seminary President Al Mohler, is pastor of 6,000-member Highview Baptist Church in Louisville.

ALPHARETTA — North American Mission Board trustees will gather in a special called meeting on Sept. 14 to vote on Kentucky pastor Kevin Ezell as president of the missions agency.

NAMB Trustee Chairman Tim Dowdy, pastor of Eagles Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough and ex officio member of the search committee, informed NAMB trustees on Ezell’s nomination in an email on Aug. 31.

Ezell, 48, pastor of Highview Baptist Church, was chosen from among a field of 20 candidates and told of the eight-member search committee’s decision on Aug. 30. The following day trustees received an email from Dowdy informing them of a special called meeting to elect a president. Ezell was confirmed as the search committee’s nominee at that time.

The nomination of NAMB’s third president since its June 1997 founding is the culmination of a 10-month search that began in October 2009. Previous presidents included Bob Reccord from 1997-2006 and Geoff Hammond from 2007-2009.

In his email the Georgia pastor said Ezell has led his current church to grow to 6,000 members since becoming pastor in 1996 “when he stepped into a difficult situation to rebuild consensus and lead the church to flourish. In the last three years, Dowdy continued, the church’s membership has grown to seven campuses spread across metropolitan Louisville and spilling into southern Indiana.

During that time the church has tripled its worship attendance – adding 1,000 in the past three years – and doubled in Sunday School. Dowdy also said Ezell’s previous pastorates in Illinois, Tennessee, and Texas all experienced significant growth.

Ezell’s most recent role in Southern Baptist life was his term of service as president of the denomination’s Pastors’ Conference, which concluded during its recent meeting in Orlando.

Ezell was born in Germany during his father’s service in the U.S. Air Force and grew up in Paducah, Ky. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., an M.Div. degree from Southwestern Seminary, and a Doctor of Divinity degree from Southern Seminary.

Dowdy’s letter to NAMB trustees, in which he elaborated on Ezell’s qualifications, was first supplied to the Florida Baptist Witness by search committee chairman Ted Traylor of Pensacola, Fla.

Dowdy told trustees Ezell is a “gifted preacher and teacher and a faithful ambassador of the Lord with a passion for reaching the lost and touching the world for Jesus Christ. His own family embodies this commitment as Kevin and his wife of almost 25 years, Lynette, have three natural children and three adopted children from three different countries: Ethiopia, China, and the Philippines.”

Traylor, senior pastor of Olive Baptist Church in the Florida Panhandle, said in the letter sent to trustees, “Kevin Ezell is a warm, personable leader who can make difficult choices in leading an organization to be laser-focused on the mission at hand.”

Ezell’s “communication and organizational skills” are cause for excitement for NAMB’s future, Traylor added in a story in the Witness.

Ezell’s nomination drew praise from the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, as well as one of his predecessors.

“It is with great joy and excitement to hear the good news that Kevin Ezell is the unanimous choice of the search committee for the president of NAMB,” SBC president Bryant Wright of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta said in the letter to NAMB trustees.

“[Ezell] is a gifted leader, and so much of the convention was able to see what a great job he did of leading the pastors’ conference in Orlando in June.”

Wright then urged prayer for Ezell “as God prepares him for this new calling of key leadership for Southern Baptists as we seek to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission.”

Former SBC president James Merritt, pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, “joyfully and enthusiastically endorsed” Ezell.

“I have known Kevin for many years and have long admired his outstanding leadership skills, his pastor’s heart, his ability to work with people, and the tremendous love he has for the Southern Baptist Convention.”