A 50/50 divide of all money given for missions causes through the Cooperative Program (CP) — that is one of the recommendations being forwarded to messengers who will attend the Nov. 14–15 annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention (ABSC). If the recommendation is approved it will mean Alabama Baptists arrive at the goal of evenly dividing CP funds two years earlier than anticipated.
The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) adopted a $37 million budget goal for the state convention during its Aug. 11 meeting at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega. Of that amount, $18.5 million will go for Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) causes and $18.5 million for use in Alabama. The budget has no “shared causes” or preferred items. It is an even split of all money given through the CP.
The recommendation is the completion of an eight-year journey that began when Southern Baptists accepted the recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. One of those recommendations called for state conventions to increase the percentage of CP funds going to SBC causes to 50 percent.
Implementing the recommendation has been challenging. Anytime one is asked to redirect 7.5 percent of a budget that is a large undertaking. The situation was further complicated because CP receipts were falling across the nation. Alabama Baptist CP receipts, for example, fell from $44,958,759 in 2007 to $41,727,510 in 2010, a drop of $3,231,249 or 7 percent.
Of the 2010 amount, Alabama forwarded 42.5 percent or $17,729,941 to SBC causes.
To complicate the situation even more, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) decided to focus primarily on what it termed “underserved areas of the nation” and began withdrawing about $1.5 million in funding for missions projects jointly sponsored by NAMB and ABSC.
Alabama Baptist Executive Director Rick Lance and other state leaders faced a huge challenge: receipts were falling; NAMB was redirecting funds away from Alabama; the SBC wanted a larger percentage of the shrinking income and missions and ministry needs in Alabama were growing.
As a cooperative partner with the SBC, Lance Alabama to begin the journey toward a 50/50 divide with a small first step.
In 2012 the percentage of the budget marked for SBC causes went up from 42.5 percent to 43 percent. For the SBC that was an increase of $215,000 based on the adopted budget.
In 2014 state leaders took another step. The percentage going to SBC increased another .3 percent. The idea of “shared causes” also was introduced.
No more ‘shared ministries’
The SBC has long recognized the concept referred to in SBC documents as “Joint Denominational Causes.” That is a group of ministries housed in state conventions and recognized to benefit both state and national conventions. The concept has been affirmed by various SBC studies and never removed. Half the money spent on ministries such as protection benefits for ministers, Woman’s Missionary Union, CP promotion and other specific programs can be considered as going to SBC causes and the other half to state causes according to this principle.
Both the 2014 and the 2015 budget listed an array of ministries as shared causes with a price tag of $4.1 million or 10 percent of each annual budget. In 2015 the percentage of the basic budget going to SBC causes also increased from 43.3 percent to 43.5 percent.
All the while, missions giving kept dropping. By 2015, CP receipts had fallen to $38,216,304 — a drop of 7.8 percent or more than $3.2 million — from the 2010 giving level.
Then something happened that allowed Alabama Baptists to find a course that could take them to the 50/50 goal in CP giving.
Samford University President Andrew Westmoreland asked the state convention to begin reducing Samford’s CP allocation by $400,000 a year (beginning with the 2015 budget) until the allocation had been reduced about 50 percent to about $2 million. Westmoreland explained that as part of the Baptist family, Samford could not contend for its appropriation while other Alabama Baptist programs, causes and entities suffered. His announcement sparked a standing ovation from messengers.
With this shift in dollars, state leaders would be able to move money from Samford to SBC causes and achieve the 50/50 goal for dividing CP funds in five years — by the year 2020.
In 2016 the SBC allocation jumped $370,000 plus a $50,000 line item called CP Advance. That brought the SBC portion to 44.98 percent. State leaders also included the $749,338 Alabama contributes to GuideStone Financial Services to purchase protection benefits for pastors and other church workers which brought the SBC percentage to 46.69 percent according to the adopted budget. The 2017 SBC percentage stood at 48 percent when the GuideStone Financial Resources allocation was included.
Earlier this year the financial picture changed again. Samford announced it was withdrawing from CP funding while maintaining other aspects of its relationship with the state convention. In response Lance led SBOM to lower the proposed budget goal for 2018 from the current $40 million to $37 million. He told SBOM board members that for the first time in years he felt confident the budget goal could be met.
Lowering the budget goal by $3 million accounted for most of Samford’s CP allocation. SBC causes received another $107,576 of former Samford funds to make its portion $18.5 million or exactly 50 percent of the proposed budget. Judson and UM also received increased allocations. Protection benefits for pastors and others through GuideStone was moved back to the state convention side meaning the proposed budget which messengers will consider in November has no shared causes.
The proposed budget shows the allocation to Christian higher education at $4,131,762 or 11.1 percent. That is a significant drop from the 2017 Christian higher education appropriation of $7,239,398 or 18.1 percent of the budget. As Lance has said, that change is a primary reason allowing the state convention to achieve a 50/50 division between SBC causes and state convention causes and complete this arduous journey two years earlier than anticipated.
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