Executive Committee members prioritize Cooperative Progam, disability ministry

NASHVILLE (BP) – In a meeting that was at once routine and consequential, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee adopted a realigned CP allocation budget, affirmed the need for ministry to those with disabilities, discontinued fellowship with two churches, and dealt with messenger motions referred to it from the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting.

Members met on Feb. 16-17 in Nashville.

Budget proposes 51% for IMB

SBC Executive Committee members voted Feb. 17 to approve a 2026-27 Cooperative Program allocation budget that places 51 percent of overall CP gifts with the International Mission Board, a recommendation first approved in 2010 with the adoption of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force recommendations.

Other SBC entities’ shares will decrease in order to achieve the 51 percent threshold that messengers have asked for, with the EC taking the largest cut.

A proposed CP allocation budget of $186 million was adopted by EC members and will be presented to messengers in Orlando in June.

Credentials Committee recommendations adopted

EC members also approved recommendations from the SBC Credentials Committee calling for the EC to “discontinue its relationship” with two churches – The Crossing Church in Tampa, Fla., and Zion Temple Baptist Church in O’Fallon, Ill.

In both cases, the stated reason for the discontinuation of relationship was the church’s “lack of intent to cooperate to resolve a question of faith and practice.”

Iorg highlights budget, CP survey

In his plenary address to EC members on Feb. 16, EC President and CEO Jeff Iorg was optimistic about the future of the Cooperative Program, especially the planned reallocation increasing the IMB’s portion to 51 percent.

Iorg shared a few results from a recent survey about CP sent to pastors, which showed enthusiastic support for the 100-year-old mechanism that funds Southern Baptist work around the world. 

He also introduced a new training course for SBC entity trustees and gave updates on lawsuits the SBC is facing, the work of the EC’s office of Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response, and the ongoing implementation of the SBC’s new Business and Financial Plan.

Pressley touts SBC’s strength

In his last address to EC members as SBC president, North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley stressed several reasons Southern Baptists have to be thankful.

“We’re not perfect,” he said. “We don’t overlook problems. But it’s OK to say we’re strong, Gospel-centered, mission-driven. Consumed by a desire to see people won to Christ.”

Special needs recommendations adopted

EC members voted Feb. 17 to ask messengers to the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando to approve a disability ministry emphasis as proposed by a specially commissioned Disability Ministry Task Force.

Task force leader Tom Stolle, executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware and the father of an adult son with special needs, chaired the task force and presented its recommendations to the EC. The recommendations call for action at all levels of SBC life.

7 billion thank yous

In her tenure in the EC’s accounting office, Williams has overseen the distribution of more than $3.4 billion in Cooperative Program gifts and nearly $3.6 billion in direct and designated gifts, for a grand total of $7,028,791,919.91, Iorg said.

Williams was honored with a standing ovation from EC members and guests.

Other business

In other actions, the Executive Committee:

• Approved a 2.7 percent increase in the salary structure of EC staff.
• Recommended the election of Ronn Bagge and Chris Kelly, both of Murfreesboro, Tenn., to serve as directors of the Southern Baptist Foundation.
• Recommended contracting with C. Barry McCarty to serve as the chief parliamentarian and Al Gage as the assistant parliamentarian at the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando.
• Requested a $100,000 reimbursement from the 2026 SBC Pastors’ Conference to help offset facility and production costs, which are estimated at $450,000.
• Recommended future annual meeting sites of Houston (2030), Anaheim, Calif. (2032 and 2037), and Indianapolis (2035).
• Recommended a change to Bylaw 21 to increase the number of members on the SBC’s Committee on Order of Business from seven to nine and to increase the terms of those members from three years to four years.
• Removed Emily Wise, a representative from West Virginia, from her post on the 2025-2026 SBC Committee on Nominations. Wise, a former public school teacher, was arrested in January on abuse-related charges. An EC statement pointed to a statement from Jackson County, W.Va., schools.

In responses to additional motions referred to the EC from the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas, EC members:

• Declined to amend the ministry assignments of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
• Declined to create a K-12 accreditation program for Southern Baptist schools or recommend any other entity take on this responsibility.
• Declined to appoint a committee to review and propose changes to the Convention’s governing documents, adding that SBC Bylaw 8.C.2. currently describes the process messengers have approved related to deciding whether a church is a cooperating church.

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This story appeared in Baptist Press. Scott Barkley, Diana Chandler, and David Roach contributed to this report.