A North American Mission Board (NAMB) decision has forced Alabama Baptists to make changes they did not expect, leaving associational and state leaders concerned.
NAMB officials informed Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) leaders late last year that World Changers, a home-renovation ministry program for low-income areas, will no longer be under the state’s management.
"They never gave us a real reason," said Tommy Puckett, Alabama’s World Changers coordinator. "If we had performed poorly that would have been a reason or if we had caused them to go in the red … but the idea was that they wanted to bring these parallel programs back under one program."
Reports indicate, however, that over the past three years, World Changers projects in Alabama and other state-run projects have increased while programs under NAMB leadership have decreased. Puckett said he does not understand the decision and did not have an opportunity for input before the decision was made.
Since 2001, the World Changers program in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina has been organized by the individual state conventions with the help of Serve Management Group, a Cumming, Ga.-based nonprofit project management organization. Beginning in 2008, however, all World Changers projects will fall back under the management of NAMB.
The partnership with Serve "has been a great experience," said Butch Henderson, equipping congregations team leader for Birmingham Baptist Association and World Changers project coordinator for Birmingham and Jefferson County.
"Why try to fix something that isn’t broken? It’s a win-win situation now," Henderson said.
The homeowner wins because more projects can take place in the state with the current setup, he said. And there is "more personal attention given to the association."
NAMB launched the current state-run World Changers program in 2001 when project requests exceeded NAMB’s ability to respond, Serve officials explained.
But NAMB officials decided the state-run method is no longer needed.
"This has been a good partnership … [h]owever, after five years we have concluded that the best way to manage all World Changer projects is through one system, not two," Harry Lewis, interim vice president for partnership missions and mobilization at NAMB, wrote in a letter to the three state convention coordinators of World Changers projects in November.
Mike Ebert, director of communications for NAMB, said, "We really saw a need to bring the whole program back under the same system. That really was what was driving the decision.
"We were having success in all these states where we are administering the ministry and wanted to bring Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina back into that same system," he said.
There were no complaints about how World Changers worked under state direction, Ebert added.
Puckett is currently working with Rick Lance, executive director of the SBOM, to explore a possible missions program similar to NAMB’s World Changers but not connected to NAMB. "We would call the missions opportunity by another name," Puckett said. This approach is currently being used in Kentucky and Virginia.
"This will allow us to continue to expand … and grow missions opportunities," he said. "We may be able to open up more opportunities for youth and adults … and to grow our partnership with Michigan.
"We may not understand [the decision by NAMB] but we are moving on," Puckett said, noting that Alabama will continue to work with World Changers through NAMB while also exploring the other options.
These other options would include working with Serve, said Puckett, who sits on Serve’s board of directors.
Yes, there has been a "bump in the road," he said, but now it is time to "look and see how we can expand in missions opportunities that become more Kingdom-focused than denominationally focused."
John Long, director of missions (DOM) for Madison Baptist Association, expressed concern about World Changers being directed by NAMB.
Under the Alabama system, "we were able to build a relationship with our city agency peoples and really have an impact all year long because of that relationship," he said.
"As I understand it, NAMB representatives will (now) serve as project coordinators and come in and meet with all the city officials. It is taking a large opportunity away from the association."
Henderson expressed similar concerns. Some municipal officials have been working with the Alabama representatives for years and making this change could affect the relationship, he noted.
John Thomas, associate DOM for Calhoun Baptist Association and World Changers project coordinator for Anniston and Oxford, agreed.
"We have been the ones meeting with the city officials, negotiating and securing housing," he said. "I think [the change] will matter. We have the relationship with the people already."
Another concern raised was about the worship experience of the students at the World Changers projects.
Serve brings in a live praise band for the students, but NAMB uses solely a worship leader, Thomas said. "This would change our worship program," he said.
Mobile World Changers project coordinator Chuck Davis said they are "evaluating our response" and waiting for additional information.
Ebert said World Changers participants will not notice a difference in the way the projects are run. The local and state coordinators will now relate to a NAMB staff person or national missionary, he said. "Everything else they will find works exactly the same."
Two new missionary positions will be added to cover the projects coming from Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina, Ebert said.
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