American Bible Society names new president

The American Bible Society (ABS), one of the country’s oldest Christian institutions, named Roy Peterson its new president Wednesday, succeeding Doug Birdsall, who the ABS board fired in October after only months on the job.

Peterson, currently president and CEO of The Seed Company, a Bible-translating organization, joins ABS in February, becoming the organization’s fifth president in the past decade.

“Roy’s decades-long leadership in Bible translation and depth of experience will serve him well as he helps lead American Bible Society into our third century of ministry,” ABS Board Chairman Pieter Dearolf said in a statement.

In addition to his work with The Seed Company, Peterson served as president and CEO of Wycliffe USA from 1997 to 2003, when he left to join The Seed Company, an affiliate of Wycliffe.

“American Bible Society’s history and influence in the world of all-things Bible cannot be overstated,” Peterson said in a statement. “I am looking forward to joining this dynamic organization, especially within this historic moment for Bible mission.”

ABS, founded in 1816, helps distribute Bibles in multiple languages around the world. But leadership issues, financial problems, and and struggles over how to handle building code violations at its headquarters in New York City have hampered those efforts in recent years, with the sudden firing of Birdsall last fall bringing to light many of these internal struggles. For more on the ABS situation see Warren Cole Smith’s feature from the Jan. 11 issue of WORLD magazine.