Kevin Ezell, pastor of one of Louisville’s largest congregations, has been elected president of the North American Mission Board, a vast network of more than 5,000 Southern Baptist missionaries and other church workers.

Ezell, who has been pastor of Highview Baptist Church since 1996, was elected after about four hours of deliberations Tuesday morning by trustees of the mission board, meeting near its Atlanta-area headquarters.

The election puts Ezell in charge of Southern Baptists’ missionary efforts in the United States, Canada and their territories, efforts the denomination called for expanding in a strategy approved earlier this year to reverse stagnating rates of conversions, as measured by baptisms.

A “strong majority” of board members voted to approve Ezell, although trustees did not release the vote tally, according to board spokesman Mike Ebert…
The election came despite public opposition from Baptist state executives from Louisiana and Arkansas. They lauded Ezell as a pastor and a person, but cited Highview’s approach to missions funding…

Opponents said Ezell would have a difficult time persuading other churches to support the Cooperative Program and the Easter offering, which provided two-thirds of the board’s revenue in 2009, according to its annual report.

“Dr. Ezell’s excellent credentials in areas such as character, family, leadership and theology do not compensate for the demonstrated lack of support for the mission of NAMB,” wrote the executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, David Hankins, in a public statement before the vote.