Messengers to the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s (LBC) annual meeting Nov. 14–15 defeated, on a show-of-hands vote, a proposal to dissolve the independent board of directors of the Baptist Message, the convention’s newspaper, and move it under the control of the convention’s executive board.
Messengers also approved a $21 million 2006 budget — down from $22 million for 2005 — after voting to restore a proposed $52,500 cut for the Baptist Message.
The Baptist Message was slated to receive 2 percent of all state Cooperative Program funds in 2006, down from the 2.3 percent the agency receives this year.
In turn, the allocation for state convention programs was set to increase from 43.5 percent to 43.7 percent.
That change drew opposition.
Michael Hawley of Ruston spoke against the proposed change, offering a motion to move $52,500 from LBC programs to the Baptist Message so that all budget line items would maintain their current allocation percentages.
As the proposal stood, the Baptist Message stood to experience a larger cut to its budget than all other convention entities, Hawley noted.
LBC executive board President James Law of Gonzales spoke against the change.
He noted that the newspaper received a 15 percent increase in 2004 and the proposed budget would place the agency back to where it was two years ago.
Eddie Simmons of Lake Simmons, however, urged restoration of the cut funds.
A show-of-ballots vote appeared to be at least 2-to-1 against the plan. Approval of the move would have required a two-thirds vote in favor. The Baptist Message will continue to operate under a separate board of trustees.
The matter dates back to earlier this year, when new LBC Executive Director David Hankins proposed a change in the newspaper structure.
In discussion, messenger Gil Arthur of Leesville said, “I cannot imagine the Louisiana Baptist Convention without the Baptist Message as we now know it. I sincerely believe passage of this motion will prove … to be a mistake.”
He held up a copy of the Message and a copy of LBC Live, a periodic publication produced by the convention.
Arthur noted that prior to the annual meeting, LBC Live ran an article only in support of the proposed folding of the newspaper into the convention. In turn, the Baptist Message ran side-by-side articles on the proposal — one for and one against, he pointed out.
“That [presenting both sides] is the history and the tradition of the Baptist Message,” Arthur maintained.
(ABP)
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