Baptist missions chief quits after inquiry

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 · Last updated 2:15 p.m. PT
Baptist missions chief quits after inquiry
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The head of a Southern Baptist Convention missions board has resigned in the wake of an internal investigation into financial dealings that cleared him of wrongdoing but criticized his management style.

The Rev. Robert Reccord, who headed the North American Mission Board for nine years, announced his resignation Monday. An internal probe completed earlier this year determined he had done nothing unethical or immoral, but had made some poor decisions in managing the agency.

Reccord's management of the agency was investigated after reports by a Baptist newspaper that he misspent millions of dollars, funneled contracts to a friend and approved manipulation of a count of missionaries.

The Rev. Barry Holcomb, an Alabama pastor who heads the agency's trustee board, maintained in a statement that Reccord did "nothing unethical in the way he oversaw finances as president."

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