The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) has approved a $43 million Cooperative Program (CP) budget proposal for 2011, is in the process of purchasing land to build a disaster relief command center and has restructured two of its offices.
Meeting Aug. 13 in Montgomery, SBOM members also approved designated giving budgets of $300,000 for state causes and $400,000 for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). No challenge budget goal was offered because of difficult economic times.
Special offering goals also were approved, totaling $20.9 million. They are Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions — $11.5 million; Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions — $6 million; Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries — $2.55 million; World Hunger Offering — $800,000; and Disaster Relief Offering — $100,000.
Of the $43 million proposed base budget, $18,278,739 will go to the SBC, $12,876,909 to the SBOM and $11,844,352 to state convention entities.
The budget proposal will be presented to messengers attending the November Alabama Baptist State Convention (ABSC) in Birmingham for approval.
The 2011 budget proposal reflects a $3 million reduction from the 2010 budget, said Rick Lance, SBOM executive director.
“This budget proposal is fiscally conservative in that the proposed expenditures reflect comprehensive research on past giving patterns and projected Cooperative Program gifts for 2011. The … proposal is a responsible, realistic view of where we are with receipts,” he said, noting, “nothing happened at the June (SBC) convention which will affect the budget we are presenting.”
“We are not structuring based on action taking place at the SBC level,” Lance said. “Those matters have yet to work their way through the system, through the trustees at IMB (the International Mission Board) and NAMB (the North American Mission Board).”
If the cooperative funding agreements between NAMB and the state conventions are dissolved, then “we feel confident we can absorb the first year plus in cooperative agreements,” he said. As far as how SBOM staff funded by NAMB will be impacted if that money is taken away or what happens in the area of church planting, Lance said, “We have not gotten there yet.”
And while the ABSC does not have the largest budget among state conventions, it continues to lead the nation in SBC giving, he said, noting “we are $1.8 million ahead of the next convention.”
Still “we are facing the reality of doing more with less” and focusing on Great Commission ministries “with an eye toward mission critical effectiveness,” he explained.
But in doing the work, “we are living within our means.”
One example of that is the 4.87 acres of land currently being purchased for less than $200,000 to build a disaster relief command center, said Scotty Hogan, pastor of Westmeade Baptist Church, Decatur, and chairman of the SBOM properties subcommittee.
“Last year, the convention authorized the property (sub)committee to look for off-site land to do staging for disaster relief and to build a warehouse to store (the SBOM’s) disaster relief equipment,” Hogan said. The convention approved an amount up to $500,000 to purchase the property and build the facility, he noted.
The land is being purchased from the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee.
Mel Johnson, SBOM disaster relief strategist, said while the warehouse will be used to store disaster relief equipment and resources when not in use, it also can be used for donations of water and supplies during times of disaster once the equipment has been deployed.
“There will also be facilities to host incident command teams should NAMB need to come in and coordinate a multistate event,” he said. “It could serve as the headquarters to coordinate a nationwide effort.”
Bobby DuBois, SBOM associate executive director, verified the SBOM will be able to pay cash for the property and the new building as long as the cost doesn’t exceed $500,000. “We reserved $250,000 to apply toward that debt (in a capital line item in both 2009 and 2010),” he said. “$500,000 is sitting ready right now.”
The goal is for disaster relief resources to be in the new facility by mid-2011, DuBois noted.
Bill Hart, pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Ozark, and chairman of the relief ministries subcommittee, said the disaster relief property is not being purchased in conjunction with any potential relocation property for the SBOM. “This is just for disaster relief.”
Hogan added that the case over the sale of the SBOM’s Taylor Road property in east Montgomery (which the SBOM has decided to sell rather than build on) is awaiting the judge’s ruling.
In other news, Lance announced Aug. 18 that two SBOM offices will merge into one, effective Sept. 15. Teman Knight recently resigned as director of the office of leadership and church health. Instead of bringing in a new person, the SBOM is moving Mike Jackson, director of the office of discipleship and family ministries, to that position.
At the same time, the office of discipleship and family ministries will merge with the office of Sunday School and Bible study ministries to become the office of Sunday School and discipleship.
“At this strategic time, we have decided to streamline a bit by merging two offices,” Lance said. “Daniel Edmonds, who has served faithfully and skillfully as our Sunday School office director since 2001, will likewise serve as the director of the new office.
“Mike Jackson will do well as the new director of the office of leadership and church health,” Lance added. “He’s a veteran leader who has served very effectively as a state missionary.
“Before coming to the State Board of Missions, Mike (a pastor for almost 18 years) worked closely with the office he will now direct. Then after coming to our staff (in 2004 as an associate in the office of evangelism), Mike has collaborated regularly with Teman Knight as a facilitator and leader in various leadership conferences,” Lance said. “He will be an effective leader and encourager of leaders for our churches.”
Jackson said he is excited about the chance to help Alabama Baptists develop as leaders.
“As I come on board … I want to continue with some of the events that are planned. … [But we’ll also] be doing some evaluation of our leadership offerings,” he said.
Rick Ellison, who currently serves as an associate in the office of Sunday School, will join Jackson as an associate. Jamie Baldwin, James Blakeney, Eileen Mitchell and Sonya Tucker will remain associates in the new office of Sunday School and discipleship.
“This reconfiguring allows us to continue our practice of faithfulness and frugality regarding personnel and will reduce our number of full-time employees to 94,” Lance noted. There were 119 SBOM employees when he came as executive director in 1999.
Through attrition and retirement, Lance has steadily led the SBOM to reduce the number of staff while maintaining its ability to continue the work taking place in its three major strategic priorities: evangelism and discipleship, leadership development and missions mobilization. (Kristen Padilla and Keith Hinson contributed)
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