For two years state Baptist leaders have wrestled with how the Alabama Baptist State Convention (ABSC) could remain a faithful ministry partner for cooperating churches and associations and at the same time achieve the goals of the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) report adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in 2010.
To many, the state convention seemed caught on the horns of a dilemma. If the ABSC maintained its responsibility to work with cooperating churches and associations to help reach the lost, disciple believers and strengthen churches in Alabama, then the state convention could not meet the financial goals called for by the SBC in its GCR report.
On the other hand, if the ABSC supported the financial goals of the GCR report, then it could not continue as a faithful ministry partner for Alabama churches and associations.
Thankfully the leaders grappling with this problem found a way out of the dilemma and will recommend to the upcoming state convention a proposal that allows the ABSC to remain a faithful ministry partner for churches, associations and the SBC.
The Great Commission Ministries FutureFocus Task Force will recommend five strategic initiatives for consideration and action by convention messengers (see pages 8–9 in the Nov. 1, 2012, issue of The Alabama Baptist). Four of the initiatives relate to the work of the convention. The fifth relates to finances.
In each initiative related to the work of the convention, the ABSC will remain a faithful partner with cooperating churches and associations. For example, the report calls for the state convention to work with churches and associations to plant a minimum of 32 churches a year in Alabama to help reach the state for Christ.
The recommendation is important at two points. First it expresses the commitment that church plants should be done by churches and associations rather than by a denominational entity. Second the recommendation calls for a variety of church plants to reach Alabama’s changing demographics, with more internationals calling Alabama home as well as micro-
focused works such as deaf or cowboy churches.
ABSC’s leader Rick Lance said he liked Alabama’s way of doing church planting better than other approaches because five years after the start of a new work 90 percent of the state’s intentional church starts are still functioning. Other methods have almost a 50 percent failure rate.
Partnership with churches and associations is also reflected in the strategic initiative of revitalizing existing churches. Instead of inviting pastors and other church leaders to a conference, the state convention proposes to provide mentoring relationships and resources to work with churches over a long period of time to help the 70 percent of Alabama Baptist churches that are plateaued or declining.
The Great Commission Ministries FutureFocus Task Force report reconfirms the Acts 1:8 strategy for global missions approved at last year’s annual meeting. Instead of missions partnerships with geographical regions such as the nation of Ukraine or the state of Michigan, Alabama Baptists will partner with the more than 400 SBC-appointed missionaries serving throughout the United States and the world. Again, Alabama Baptists will be faithful ministry partners with missionaries from our state.
These strategic initiatives may necessitate tweaking the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) structure, SBOM executive director Lance pointed out, but wholesale changes should not be expected. He said that during his 14 years as executive director there had been almost continuous tweaking resulting in a 29 percent reduction in staff over that time period.
Going forward the SBOM will continue to provide the resources churches and associations have come to expect as well as focus on the recommended strategic initiatives, he added.
The financial recommendation also reflects the state convention’s commitment to be a faithful ministry partner. For example, the plan provides a way for the state convention to continue supporting more than $1 million in shared ministry costs in Alabama previously provided by SBC entities. The validity of these ministries never changed. Only SBC priorities changed, resulting in the funds being directed elsewhere.
By adopting a methodology that has been part of the Cooperative Program (CP) structure since its earliest days, the Great Commission Ministries FutureFocus Task Force report outlines how Alabama Baptists can reach the goal of evenly dividing CP receipts between state and SBC causes. That methodology is shared ministries.
The shared ministries category — referred to in SBC documents by different terms over the years — acknowledges that some costs paid by state conventions benefit both the state and national conventions. CP promotion, which now rests primarily with state conventions, is one example. So are the insurance benefits paid by state conventions on behalf of pastors and church staff members. Those benefits allow a pastor to move from one state to another without penalty.
By categorizing these and other such costs in the shared ministries category, the benefits to both state and national conventions are recognized. The FutureFocus report specifies that no more than 10 percent of any annual budget will be placed in the shared ministries category.
The goal would then be to divide the remaining 90 percent of the budget equally between state and national causes.
But that will take a change in church behavior. The report also asks Alabama Baptist churches to be faithful ministry partners by increasing by 1 percent over four years the percentage of undesignated funds given to missions and ministries through CP. That is one-quarter of 1 percent per year for four years. Recently the average percentage of undesignated receipts from churches given through CP has been declining. That must stop for the FutureFocus Task Force recommendations to work.
As churches respond the SBC will receive about 60 percent of the growth in receipts, the report says. That will allow the SBC portion of CP receipts to grow until equally divided by 2023, the state convention’s 200th birthday. Stronger responses by the churches could cause that goal to be met earlier.
Being a faithful ministry partner requires cooperation by all involved. In this case, the ABSC continues its commitment to work with churches and associations to reach Alabama for Christ while upholding its dedication to the Great Commission. The SBC cooperates by providing a tool — the shared ministries category — to help states reach the financial goal of equally dividing receipts between state and national causes. Churches cooperate by raising the priority of missions beyond themselves by increasing CP receipts by one-quarter of 1 percent for four years. That is a win-win-win situation for everyone.
In our judgment, the Great Commission Ministries FutureFocus Task Force report merits the support of every messenger to the upcoming state convention and the cooperation of every Alabama Baptist church.
Share with others: