Actions to prevent child abuse and support the Cooperative Program (CP) will take top billing during the business portion of the state convention annual meeting Nov. 13–14.
Messengers will also vote on a recommendation for the sale and purchase of land intended to allow the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) to construct a new building on a new site.
All business topics that are on the docket so far will position Alabama Baptists to charge ahead for the cause of Christ, according to Roger Willmore, president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
“All indications point to a smooth convention,” Willmore said of the meeting, which will take place at Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, in Mobile Baptist Association. “I am not aware of any controversial topics to be presented at the convention — there are none on my radar screen at this time.”
Joe Bob Mizzell, director of the SBOM office of Christian ethics and chaplaincy ministries, said the five resolutions currently in progress are strong.
Civic responsibility, CP also noted
“We have a wide range of subject matter so far,” Mizzell said.
The topics are:
- The prevention of child abuse
- “This is especially as it relates to the church — protecting the child while he is at church,” he said.
- The hate crime bill
“The bill is before the U.S. Senate at the present time, and we are in strong opposition to it,” Mizzell said. “It takes away the freedom of speech from ministers, especially in the pulpit, and it is in direct conflict with biblical instructions.”
- Celebrating the 300th anniversary of the Baptist association in the United States
- Civic responsibility, including “the responsibility of every citizen to vote,” Mizzell said.
- The CP
“This one deals with the value of the Cooperative Program, its history and the fact that it is an extremely good tool through which all Southern Baptists, including Alabama Baptists, are able to finance all the work of the conventions,” he said.
Joe Godfrey, chairman of the resolutions committee, has taken this resolution especially to heart.
“The Cooperative Program is crucial to keep our churches growing and reaching people,” said Godfrey, associate executive director of Alabama Citizens Action Program. “It seems every generation has to relearn how beautifully it works. It’s the foundation of our financial support for building Christ’s Kingdom as Alabama Baptists.”
State Baptists have traditionally been supportive of the CP but need to keep the momentum, he said.
Rick Lance, SBOM executive director, affirmed that sentiment, adding that state Baptists have a major milestone approaching with their faithful CP giving — $1 billion by the end of 2008.
“[T]his is a cause for celebration. Since 1925, with the inauguration of the Cooperative Program, Alabama Baptists have been among the most faithful contributors through the Cooperative Program in Southern Baptist life,” he said.
Guarding and enhancing CP dollars will also come up in the recommendation for finding other ways to get funding for a new Baptist building on new property in the next decade.
Messengers will vote on a recommendation to sell property along Taylor Road in Montgomery and purchase land along the Interstate 65 corridor near Autauga and Elmore counties. This land may be used as the new building site 10 years from now or it may be sold to buy other property at that time, said Bobby DuBois, SBOM associate executive director.
The rest of the money from the sale of the Taylor Road property would be invested in The Baptist Foundation of Alabama to garner interest, he noted.
“We are not proposing a quick action for a building; we are merely positioning ourselves for future building needs,” DuBois said.
He explained that the SBOM plans to keep CP expenditures for this cause in the 1.5 percent range.
The supplemental revenue needed for the future building project would come from land sales, DuBois said.
The details of the recommendation — why the move from the current property is needed, what the benefit of selling the Taylor Road property is, etc. — will be delivered to messengers during the annual meeting, he said.
To request messenger cards for your church, contact Susan Corley at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 266, or scorley@alsbom.org or visit www.alsbom.org/convention.
Messengers can submit resolutions to Joanne Farmer at jfarmer@alsbom.org.
“We strongly encourage Alabama Baptists to submit them before the Nov. 5 meeting of the resolutions committee so that we can make sure they are in the right form, but of course, messengers have the right and privilege to submit them up until the annual meeting,” Mizzell said.
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