NAMB trustees gain frontline view of Navy chaplaincy during San Diego Board gathering

SAN DIEGO — North American Mission Board (NAMB) trustees gathered Feb. 2–3 in San Diego for their winter Board of Trustees meeting, combining ministry exposure, fellowship and governance during a two-day schedule that included a tour of a U.S. Navy ship, a celebration dinner, and full board and committee meetings.

Trustees began their time together with a visit to a San Diego naval base, where they toured the USS MAKIN ISLAND, an amphibious assault ship, gaining firsthand insight into the ministry of military chaplains endorsed by NAMB on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The visit was hosted by the ship’s senior chaplain, CDR Stephen Chapman, U.S. Navy, a Southern Baptist and former youth and children’s pastor in Alabama. Chapman explained the unique ministry environment of a military chaplain, as well as the opportunities chaplains have to lead religious services, provide pastoral care and share the Gospel in military settings.

That evening, trustees gathered for a celebration dinner that included a welcome from Pete Ramirez, executive director of the California Southern Baptist Convention, and the introductions of several Southern Baptist chaplains.

Panel discussions during the dinner featured current active-duty chaplains and highlighted the distinct nature of military chaplaincy as well as the gospel opportunities available through planting churches near military bases.

The evening’s final panel featured Chaplain (Major General) Trent Davis, a Southern Baptist who currently serves as the 21st Chief of Chaplains for the U.S. Air Force and 3rd Chief of Chaplains for the U.S. Space Force.

Davis graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was endorsed by NAMB as an active-duty military chaplain and has served in the U.S. Air Force for nearly three decades.

As Chief of Chaplains, Davis serves more than 700,000 Air Force and Space Force personnel worldwide, providing guidance on religious liberty, moral leadership and the spiritual care of service members and their families.

Speaking with NAMB president Kevin Ezell and NAMB’s senior executive director of chaplaincy, Chaplain (Major General) Doug Carver, U.S. Army retired, Davis spoke of how encouraged he was after recently visiting Air Force chaplains stationed at various points around the world.

“I recently saw a U.S. military worship service in the Middle East that was literally standing room only,” Davis said. “A few weeks later, the wing commander doubled the size of that chapel tent because of what was happening there. I saw chapels bursting at the seams and people being baptized on a weekly basis because of the work of faithful chaplains.”

Davis assured trustees that Southern Baptist military chaplains have the freedom to share their faith with military personnel.

“If you’re a Baptist chaplain out there, you follow that call. Be bold in your witness. That opportunity is absolutely there today — one that I’ve seen throughout my 28-year career,” Davis said.

At the end of the discussion, Davis expressed specific appreciation for NAMB’s work.

“Everything I’ve had the opportunity to do in ministry has happened because of the North American Mission Board,” he said. “I was first sent out as a NAMB church planter and then endorsed as a chaplain — and I’m still doing it. So thank you for what you do every single day.”

Trustees convened Tuesday for their formal Board of Trustees meeting, where they received reports and acted on ministry and governance items.

Board chairman Jonathan Jarboe, a member of Pathway Church in Redland, Calif., who sits on the Board’s Finance Committee, reported that in its annual independent audit, NAMB once again received a clean, unqualified opinion — the highest rating possible.

Jarboe said Finance Committee members met in person with auditors.

“We asked some pointed questions of our auditors today, just to make sure that the information we’re getting, they’re comfortable with. And that the information we’re getting is accurate,” Jarboe said. Auditors also assured trustees they had reviewed NAMB’s internal operational controls, which help NAMB maintain the highest levels of business and stewardship integrity.

After a unanimous recommendation from the Finance Committee, members of the full board accepted the audit results by unanimous vote.

In other reports and actions:

• The Board also approved responses to two motions referred to NAMB from the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas. One requested NAMB to develop special needs ministry resources and NAMB deferred to an SBC Executive Committee task force that is studying the same topic. Another asked NAMB to share how it identifies, equips, and elevates ethnic leaders and NAMB’s response points to several examples.
• NAMB Chief Financial Officer Donna Gardner reported that year-to-date revenue is running less than one percent under budget, while expenses remain significantly under budget.
• During committee reports, trustees learned the Chaplains Commission endorsed 16 new chaplains, including an 84-year-old woman serving with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.
• Trustees also received updates from Send Network, which reported that in 2025, Southern Baptists saw the highest number of new church plants since 2016. The 2025 congregation count report will be finalized over the next few weeks.

Ezell concluded the meeting with a president’s report drawn from Psalm 90:12 — “Teach us to number our days” — encouraging trustees to steward both time and opportunity faithfully as they serve Southern Baptists and advance the mission.

“The mission is what drives this, not a man,” Ezell said. “There’s no time to downshift and go slower. We have to maintain a sense of urgency.”

Ezell reminded trustees that leadership roles are temporary, but the responsibility entrusted to them is significant, urging them to steward both time and opportunity wisely.

“We get to be a part of what God is doing across North America,” he said. “That’s why the psalmist says, ‘Teach us to number our days.’”

Ezell closed by thanking trustees for their sacrificial service and urging them to approach each decision with wisdom, faithfulness and urgency.