tim.baysinger@gmail.com | @tim_bays
Beginning NOV. 1, the National Religious Broadcasters — the international consortium of Christian radio and TV stations — will have a new man in charge.
The NRB did its due diligence, conducting a long search for a successor to Frank Wright, who announced in March that he planned to step down after 10 years of leading the religious organization. The efforts led to Jerry A. Johnson.
“With today’s technologies, there are amazing opportunities to advance God’s Word worldwide. Dr. Jerry Johnson is extremely well-suited to lead NRB into the future,” said NRB board chairman Rich Bott.
The process was a meticulous one. When B&C spoke with Michael Little, president & COO of the NRB-member Christian Broadcasting Network over the summer, he was mum on an exact target date for selecting the new chief, hoping it would be within three months.
Little added that knowledge of digital media, something the NRB has been pushing — especially at its annual conventions — would be a major determining factor, as well as connections on Capitol Hill, which is something Wright was known for having..
Johnson is currently president of Criswell College in Dallas. While at Criswell, he has overseen the operation of one of the nation’s leading major-market Christian radio stations, KCBI-FM, which was named Station of the Year by the NRB in 2011.
“By experience and conviction, I am ready and willing to lead NRB to achieve our three-fold mission: advancing biblical truth, promoting media excellence and defending free speech,” Johnson said. “If Christians want to be heard by the current generation, they will have to communicate the Gospel in their ‘media language’ with excellence. Recent developments on the cultural and legal landscape require that we defend the biblical and constitutional principle of free speech with zeal.”
Wright, in delivering his farewell address Oct. 1 to the NRB President’s Council, said that Johnson is “another in a long line of those whose mission is to keep the doors of electronic media open for the spread of the Gospel.”
