IMB trustees appoint 66 missionaries, approve interim president

David Platt

International Mission Board trustees approved the appointment of 66 new full-time, fully funded personnel to take the gospel to unreached people and places during their Sept. 26-27 meeting near Richmond, Virginia.  

The meeting also included a final address from outgoing president Dr. David Platt; approval of interim president Dr. Clyde Meador; approval of a balanced budget for 2018-19; a recommendation about trustee representation from state conventions; and orientation for eight new trustees. Dr. Rick Dunbar, trustee chairman and a member of First Baptist Church Madison, Mississippi, presided over the meeting.  

Platt has served as president of the IMB since Aug. 27, 2014. Since September 2017, Platt also has served as pastor/teacher of McLean Bible Church in northern Virginia, a role he will fill full time after the Sept. 26-27 meeting. In expressing his gratitude for Platt, Dunbar said Platt’s preaching and teaching has changed his life, and he also expressed appreciation for the commitment of the Platt family to David’s service as the entity’s president. 

Rick Dunbar

Dr. Rick Dunbar, chair of the IMB board of trustees, expresses his gratitude to Dr. David Platt during the Sept. 26 board of trustees meeting. (IMB Photo by Chris Carter)

Platt told trustees: “I want to thank you for granting me the privilege four years ago of stepping into the role of IMB president. That was not an easy decision, and I want to thank you for putting me in this position. It was a position that I did not deserve then, and I do not deserve now. It is evidence of God’s unmerited grace to me that He would grant me, through you, the pure privilege and honor of serving the brothers and sisters who make up the International Mission Board.” 

Three encouragements

As he departs the presidency, Platt encouraged trustees to strive for both biblical faithfulness and practical effectiveness. He said one of the reasons he has been particularly passionate about the theological foundations of the IMB is because of the lack of biblical faithfulness he sees in the missions world. 

“There is much activity in supposed ‘missions’ today that is gospel-less or gospel-light,” he said. “There is much activity in supposed ‘missions’ today that is church-less or church-light. … We would be the most foolish of all to think that the adversary is not actively working every single day to pull any and all of our personnel away from the centrality of biblical gospel proclamation and the integrity of healthy church formation.”

“So as you lead the IMB, please do not assume biblical faithfulness; please assert biblical faithfulness — and practical effectiveness,” he implored. “The IMB is entrusted by Southern Baptist churches with over $260 million a year for the spread of the gospel among the nations. So never stop asking the question, ‘What is the most effective way to spend that money for the spread of the gospel among the nations?’”

Look at analysis 

Platt also encouraged trustees that as they listen to anecdotes, to look at analysis. He said he believes it is critical for IMB trustees to carefully consider the realistic trends of Southern Baptist churches’ attendance and giving as they make decisions about sending missionaries and engaging churches.

David Platt

IMB trustees gather around David Platt during their Sept. 26 plenary session to pray for Platt’s transition from IMB president to full-time pastor/teacher of McLean Bible Church in northern Virginia. (IMB Photo by Chris Carter)

“If I could humbly exhort you today: Select a president who will not be content with this status quo, who will not be content with business as usual as long as everyone feels good with anecdotes that abound,” Platt said. “Elect a president who will aggressively drive the IMB to push forward and press boundaries and redefine paradigms. And as he does this, I humbly exhort you: Give him freedom to push and support him as he presses. Don’t squeeze him into the mold of the past. Release him and those he leads alongside to move into the future so that the IMB (as a part of the SBC) does not drift into increasing irrelevance.”

Missional urgency

Platt’s third encouragement for the trustees is to prioritize missional urgency over political expediency.

“I want to plead with you to refuse to play political games while 2.8 billion people have little to no access to the good news of God’s love,” Platt said. “I want to plead with you to refuse to pander to the applause of men, constantly trying to please every person when the only thing that matters is the pleasure of God.

“Life is too short, the need is too great, and the mission is too important to waste our time on anything less than continual, intentional, biblical, strategic, honest conversations about how to get the gospel to unreached men, women, and children who are on a road that leads to an eternal hell. I plead with you: prioritize missional urgency over political expediency.”

Following Platt’s address, trustee Dr. Andy Davis, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, offered Scripture of support as Platt steps into the pastorate full time. Trustees gathered around Platt to pray specifically for his transition.

Not ‘interim’

During the Sept. 26 plenary session, trustees approved the motion by the Administration Committee to name an interim president for up to one year in the absence of a permanent president. Trustees voted unanimously to name Dr. Clyde Meador as the board’s interim president. Meador gave a report during the Sept. 27 plenary session.

“The highlight of this board meeting was last night, when we celebrated together the sending of 66 long-term, fully-funded missionaries,” Meador said. “They are sent out through the IMB by their local Southern Baptist churches, and they are supported by the cooperation of more than 47,000 churches and millions of Southern Baptists who give faithfully through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®.  These new missionaries are going out to serve in 8 of our 9 affinities. Twenty-eight of those 66 — 42 percent of them — have served with us previously for at least two years.”

Doug Melton and Clyde Meador

New IMB trustee Doug Melton (left), pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, speaks with IMB interim president Clyde Meador during the Sept. 26-27 meeting in Richmond. Trustees voted unanimously to name Meador as interim president during the Sept. 26 plenary session. (IMB Photo by Chris Carter)

Meador also addressed his interim role: “Indeed our president is interim,” Meador said. “But nothing else about IMB is interim. No one has pushed the pause button for IMB. Our vision is unchanged as we move forward.”

Meador recounted a conversation with a Southern Baptist worker serving on the other side of the world. The country in which the person serves has seen great response for many years, but persecution is growing at an alarming rate. Church meeting places are being forcibly closed, and many missionaries have been ejected from the country. Meador asked him to share the greatest victory he had experienced in the last two weeks. He said, “Well, we were able to share the gospel 200 times in the last two weeks.”

“Folks, that is not interim,” Meador said. “That is not on pause. And there are many more examples I could share. God is not on pause, and neither is IMB. Based on the latest statistics, to be released soon, I can report that as God uses our personnel around the world, a new church is planted every hour, and a new person comes to faith in Christ every five minutes. That is not pausing!”

Budget

Also during the Sept. 27 plenary session of the meeting, Meador and Rodney Freeman, vice president of support services and IMB treasurer, introduced the 2018-19 proposed budget, balanced with receipts and expenses both projected at $264.4 million.

Meador emphasized the IMB’s priorities for the budget are to sustain an increasingly efficient and effective organization; undergird the existing mission force and staff; replenish the current mission force in response to natural attrition; and expand the future mission force with the remaining budget. The budget is based on IMB’s fiscal year, Oct. 1, 2018-Sept. 30, 2019.

The IMB budgeting process follows five core principles: 

  • Uses realistic to conservative projections for receipts from the Cooperative Program, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and other receipts (projecting Cooperative Program receipts at $97.8 million and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering receipts at $154.4 million for 2018-19); 
  • Maintains contingency reserves at an appropriate level (set at 5.5 months, which falls within SBC Executive Committee guidelines); 
  • Excludes property sales from budget receipts or expenses; 
  • Spends 100 percent of LMCO receipts on the mission field; and 
  • Presents a balanced budget for approval each year ($264.4 million for 2018-19). 

“By the grace of God, and the consistent giving of Southern Baptist churches through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering®, I am pleased to present [this budget] for the trustees’ approval,” Freeman reported. “I want to thank the Finance Team – the men and women of the Finance Team work diligently and with high integrity each day as they help us wisely steward the monies that God has entrusted to us.” 

Representation

Meador reported action related to trustee representation from state conventions: “Of interest to many Southern Baptists is the action to ask the SBC to approve an amendment to our articles of incorporation, which would slightly expand the composition of our board,” he said. “Should this be approved, by 2020 the SBC would be electing trustees to our board from throughout the country, including from state conventions with relatively small populations of Southern Baptists.”

The Administration Committee, as reported by trustee Michael Cloer from North Carolina, recommended that the board’s articles of incorporation be adjusted to allow for the appointment of an IMB trustee from each state or defined territory; one additional trustee per 250,000 church members in that state or defined territory; and one additional person for every additional 250,000 church members in the state or defined territory. The recommendation will go to the SBC for further action.  

Orientation

The week also included orientation for eight new trustees elected in June during the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Dallas.

The new IMB trustees are Nate Bishop, Jr., lead pastor of Forest Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky; Alan Brumback, lead pastor of Central Baptist Church of Sanford, Florida; Joyce Chambers, a member of Grace Baptist Church in Monroe, Georgia; Trudy Crittendon, a member of Townville Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina; Rick Hedger, a member of Freshwater Church in Jefferson City, Missouri; Doug Melton, pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City; Carol Pfeiffer, a member of Southview Baptist Church in Rosharon, Texas; and Chris Wall, pastor of First Baptist Church in Owasso, Oklahoma.

The official launch date for the 2018-19 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® is Oct. 1. For more information, go to IMB.org/LMCO to find new resources for your church’s mission offering. 

The next IMB Board of Trustees meeting is slated for Nov. 14-15 in Richmond.  


The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® is a registered trademark of Woman’s Missionary Union.  

Julie McGowan is public relations manager for IMB