Messengers approve $37.5M budget, celebrate volunteers who are DifferenceMakers

Messengers to the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting at Eastern Shore Baptist Church in Daphne approved a $37.5 million Cooperative Program allocation budget for 2025.

The budget is up $500,000 over the 2024 budget and was presented during the report of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions on Nov. 12.

It maintains the 50–50 percentage allocation between Southern Baptist Convention Great Commission ministries and state convention-related Great Commission missions.

Messengers also approved the following 2025 special offering goals, all of which are the same amount as last year:

• Lottie Moon Christmas Offering: $12 million
• Annie Armstrong Easter Offering: $6 million
• Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries: $3 million
• Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering: $1.2 million
• World Hunger Offering: $800,000

In other financial updates, Rick Lance, SBOM executive director, said Alabama Baptists will give Mission:Dignity recipients three extra checks in 2025 funded by interest income, similar to what was done in 2024.

Mission:Dignity helps retirement-age Southern Baptist ministers and widows who are struggling to pay for their basic needs, like housing, food and medication.

The SBOM auditor’s report for 2023 financials also was approved by messengers, and Lance announced that Alabama Baptists had given $1 million toward Disaster Relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Also during the report, messengers celebrated missions and disaster relief volunteers who are DifferenceMakers.

Mark Wakefield, state disaster relief strategist, presented the Tommy Puckett Award for Excellence to Dan Wiggins, associational missionary for Pleasant Grove Baptist Association and state disaster relief chaplain coordinator. Wakefield also shared that Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have seen 38 people profess faith in Christ since the beginning of June.

Scotty Goldman, director of the SBOM office of global missions, presented the Volunteer of the Year award to two missions volunteers — Debra Abston and Kimberly Posey, both members of Highland Baptist Church in Gordo. The two have served together in many missions endeavors locally and globally and were nominated by Pickens Baptist Association’s Claren Dease.