Ezell elected NAMB President

ATLANTA—Kevin Ezell has been elected president of the North American Mission Board. NAMB’s board of trustees approved the nomination in a special called meeting which took place Sept. 14 at an Atlanta-area hotel.

 “I am honored and humbled that the trustees put this confidence in me,” Ezell said immediately following the meeting. “I will do everything I possibly can to honor the Lord in this and to lead NAMB to a place where it is as effective as it possibly can be.”

Ezell said he sensed God’s call to the role partly because of what can be accomplished through NAMB.

Tim Dowdy, chairman of NAMB’s board of trustees, and pastor of Eagle’s Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough, Ga., said Ezell’s leadership abilities, integrity and passion for church planting and missions are what led trustees to him.

“He has demonstrated faithful leadership and character and he has a passion for reaching the world,” Dowdy said. “One banner he will consistently wave is that our greatest resource in the SBC is not money, but people. We want to help mobilize our people and partner with them to reach North America for Christ.”

Ezell has pastored Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., since 1996. He served as president of the SBC Pastor’s Conference this June in Orlando. He and his wife, Lynette, met with NAMB trustees for about an hour Tuesday morning in a closed session to discuss his nomination.

After the vote, Ezell said one of his first priorities as NAMB president will be to spend time with church planters.

“They are on the front lines and I want to do everything I possibly can to free resources and direct resources to them and help them succeed,” he said. “I love church planters. I like being around people who get in the ditch and do the work. That’s who I operate best with. So I look forward to connecting and investing in them.”