Funding of missions topic of ABSC board

Tim Yarbrough
Arkansas Baptist News 

LITTLE ROCK – Messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) Annual Meeting Nov. 1-2 will be asked to approve a number of changes in the way missions are funded in the state.

Meeting Aug. 9, the ABSC Executive Board approved recommendations of the convention’s Budget Formula Study Committee. The recommendations were to continue to increase the percentage of funds (total receipts) forwarded to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), to divide state budget surpluses with the SBC and to conduct a statewide emphasis every five years encouraging churches to increase their Cooperative Program percentage.

The revised budget formula would go into effect for the 2013-17 budget years.

Emil Turner, ABSC executive director, said the work of the Budget Formula Study Committee is particularly important as the SBC grapples with how to interpret and implement recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) report approved by SBC messengers in 2010.

“The Budget Formula Study Committee is a committee appointed by the president of the executive board every five years,” said Turner. “Its task is to study the entities that receive Cooperative Program funds and to recommend the division of those funds for the next five years.”

Turner noted the Budget Formula Study Committee existed in Arkansas prior to the adoption of the GCR report.

“A lot of state conventions have appointed Great Commission Resurgence study committees,” said Turner. “This Budget Formula Study Committee does what a Great Commission Study Committee did in other state conventions. The difference is that ours is automatic every five years. What the committee is recommending is that we continue to increase the percentage which we share with the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee for the next five years by the same two-tenths percent a year.”

Turner, who was elected president of the Fellowship of State Executive Directors for 2011-12 in February, said if the recommendation is approved, Arkansas Baptists would have accomplished something no other state convention has accomplished.

“If adopted by the convention, it will mean, for 10 years in a row, the Arkansas state convention will have gone up on the percentage sent out of state. No other state convention has done that for 10 years in a row,” he said.

The recommendation regarding how the state convention distributes budget overage is significant.

“If we go over our budget in any year, the surplus is immediately divided with the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee on a 50/50 basis,” he said. “In the past, we simply retained that overage and used it in a subsequent year when we did not receive 100 percent of the Cooperative Program budget. So, it takes away the ability that we have to protect ourselves from going under budget.”

Turner said some Arkansas pastors and other church leaders question why a larger percentage of funds are being distributed outside the state. SBC leadership has encouraged state conventions for years to split state funds on a 50/50 allocation. In February, executive directors of state conventions agreed to affirm a portion of the GCR reporting that requested a 50/50 division of Cooperative Program funds – after consideration for “shared ministry” items.

Another significant change in the funding formula recommended by the ABSC Budget Formula Study Committee is to address shared ministry items, said Turner.

“What we did was to examine our budget to determine what percentage of it assisted the SBC at large, rather than simply assist Arkansas churches. And we found that almost 11 percent of our budget serves, in some way, the Southern Baptist Convention at large,” he explained.

“We’re going to limit it to no more than 1 percent, and our goal for the first five years – this budget formula – would be $135,000 each year for shared ministries. (It) will be absorbed by the (ABSC) Executive Board.

“With over $2 million in shared ministries, we think $135,000 is a very modest place to start.”

In light of the GCR, Turner said shared ministry funds could play a significant role in helping fund mission efforts outside Arkansas. The idea of shared ministry was endorsed in the GCR report. 

“One of the things the shared ministries item will do is enable us to help new work, pioneer state conventions that have been cut by the North American Mission Board. And in the future, this is going to have to become a larger portion of our budget in order to help these state conventions that have received tremendous cuts in their funding,” said Turner.

“We’ll just have more funds we can send to ministries in those states.”

Turner emphasized the concept of shared ministries was in the original Cooperative Program vision and that, “Georgia has been using this model for many, many years. Other state conventions have used it from time to time, but more state conventions will begin to use it. 

“We’re joining Florida, for instance, that has started to use it. Other state conventions will all begin to use it.”

Additionally, the board:

• Approved a recommendation that Diane Parker, an 18-year ABSC employee, be promoted to team leader of the missions support team.
• Heard testimonies from new ABSC staff, Chad Logan and Sean Mills. Logan is the new Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) director at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, and Mills is the new youth evangelism specialist for the evangelism and church growth team.
• Approved a $21.4 million operating budget for 2012. The budget includes no increases over the previous year’s budget. Turner noted, “While it is flat, we’re actually going to (have) less money to use in Arkansas, because we continue to go up on a percentage on what we send to the SBC.”
• Agreed with a recommendation of the program committee to approve 2012 goals for all ABSC teams.
• Approved the annual audit of the convention. “We received an unqualified audit with no problems,” said Turner. “It’s a clean audit, affirming the way we use our funds.” He reminded board members that every messenger to the ABSC Annual Meeting receives a copy of the audits of all the institutions and agencies of the ABSC in the Book of Reports. 
• Recognized the following outgoing board members: Modena Ramsey, Arkansas River Valley Baptist Association; Eric Hodge, Ashley County Baptist Association; Ronny Allen, Centennial Baptist Association; Joe Walden, Clear Creek Baptist Association; Dewey Hickey, Concord Baptist Association; Mike Bell, Delta Baptist Association; Vaughn Blue, Liberty Baptist Association; Mike Wilkinson, North Pulaski Baptist Association; Mike Turner and Bob Ward, both Southwest Arkansas Baptist Association; Loren Strickland, Tri-County Baptist Association; Gary Wise, White River Baptist Association; Angie Elrod, District 5; and Eleanor Stephenson, District 8.