In Dallas on Tuesday (June 10), Dr. Jeff Iorg offered a report to the Southern Baptist Convention regarding the progress of abuse prevention and reporting reforms—as well as their financial implications.
Iorg has served as the president and CEO of the SBC’s Executive Committee for roughly a year now after taking the post amid turmoil.
In 2021, Dr. Ronnie Floyd resigned as president and CEO amid his disagreement with the EC’s decision to waive attorney-client privilege during Guidepost Solutions‘ third-party investigation into whether the EC had mishandled sexual abuse allegations.
For the next two years, Willie McLaurin served as interim president and CEO. McLaurin was under consideration to assume the role permanently until it was revealed in August 2023 that he had lied about his educational background on his resumé and was forced to resign.
Under Iorg’s leadership, the entity has seemed to stabilize. However, the challenges facing the EC remain significant.
During his report, Iorg emphasized his responsibility to lead “from a broad perspective.”
“Perspective is important in problem-solving,” said Iorg. “It’s easy to fixate on one doctrinal position, one financial number, one procedural question, or one leadership mistake, and miss the insight possible from a broader perspective.”
Given the situation, Iorg described what he believes is the best path forward.
In January, the EC established a permanent office dedicated to the long-term implementation of denominational reforms to address sexual abuse prevention and reporting and appointed Jeff Dalrymple to lead it.
The strategies for abuse prevention and reporting under Dalrymple’s leadership have included providing and promoting revised training resources and examining resources for reporting.
“Another important role of the Executive Committee is litigation management,” said Iorg, referring to the now-closed Department of Justice investigation into the SBC’s handling of sexual abuse allegations and three pending lawsuits.
“These four matters resulted from decisions made in 2021 and are the source of the financial challenges the Executive Committee has faced on your behalf,” said Iorg.
, Dr. Jeff Iorg offered a report to the Southern Baptist Convention regarding the progress of abuse prevention and reporting reforms—as well as their financial implications. ){kind=link}