Geoff Hammond was unanimously elected president of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) March 21 by the board of trustees. He assumes his role during the May 8–9 board meeting and will be on staff full time May 22.
Hammond, 49, is currently senior associate director of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV). He also serves as a NAMB church–planting missionary with the SBCV.
He replaces Bob Reccord, who resigned in April 2006 after allegations of financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest and autocratic leadership.
"I am a missionary," Hammond said. "I want NAMB to be a missionary agency in all that we do."
NAMB trustee Ellie Ficken of Montgomery said, "He not only has the mind of a missionary and has lived that life and knows the needs … but his background and degree is in business and finance. To have that background at his level of leadership is fantastic.
"At NAMB, it’s a new day; it’s bursting forth and we’re excited," she said.
Hammond was born in Nigeria to parents working for the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board, IMB). He graduated from Spurgeon’s Seminary in London and holds a doctorate degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
"I’ve always believed that there could be closer relationships between NAMB and the IMB," he said. "There are so many things that IMB missionaries have discovered overseas that we could use here as we try to reach ethnic groups and unreached people groups."
For Hammond, that work includes groups in Western and Northern states. He said he faces a "steep learning curve" when it comes to learning about church-starting in the West but "I have a heart to … reach out to them."
Hammond has also served as a director of missions in Arkansas and pastor of a mission church and a church plant. He was an assistant pastor at First Baptist Church, Dallas, in the 1980s.
When asked how he would relate to the broad range of Southern Baptists, he said, "NAMB partners with all state conventions and … my experience with Southern Baptists is from birth … and representing all Baptists as both a NAMB and IMB missionary."
"I seek to understand before I know. That’s going to be an important part of how I lead," he said.
He and his wife, Deborah, have two sons. (Compiled from wire services)
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