USA (MNN/IMB) — While the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB) recently appointed 51 new missionaries, they've yet to find "God's man' to fill the agency's top position.
Jerry Rankin stepped down as the IMB's president July 31. So, temporarily, the IMB trustees appointed executive vice president Clyde Meador interim president when Rankin retired.
"This is the most crucial position that a man can hold on the face of the planet," said trustee chairman Jimmy Pritchard, who heads the 15-member presidential search committee. "And because of that, (choosing a new president) shouldn't be easy.
"Our pledge to you is that when we do … stand before you … (to present our presidential nominee), we're going to have full confidence that we're presenting God's man."
Pritchard, pastor of First Baptist Church in Forney, Texas, thanked trustees for their patience and prayers as the search committee continues its work.
"We have 5,000-plus missionaries praying for us … we have people all over the Southern Baptist Convention praying for us, and we have a great (search) committee who love God and love one another," Pritchard said. "We're working together. We have one purpose, and that is to find God's man. Are we there yet? No. But by God's grace we're going to get there.
Pray for the IMB trustees as they face this difficult challenge.
