From a financial standpoint, 2011 closed with a thud for most Alabama Baptist ministries. Cooperative Program (CP) receipts totaled $40,613,997, well short of the $43 million goal and $1,113,513 below what Alabama Baptists contributed to missions and ministry causes in 2010. It was the fourth consecutive year that CP receipts have declined. The high in CP giving occurred in 2007, when $44,958,759 was contributed.
Because CP funds are distributed on a percentage basis, all cooperative ministries supported by the CP will receive 94.45 percent of what was originally anticipated in the 2011 budget.
Most of Alabama’s 75 Baptist associations also ended the year with a financial thud. Reports indicate few received a December “bounce” in giving so they ended the year with giving below budget.
The situation for cooperative ministries is little different from that of local churches. Information from the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) indicates undesignated giving to local churches has been stagnant for the past four years with some periods of decline.
Local churches have cut back on expenses, reduced ministries and taken other steps to adjust expenses to match the giving level of members. The four-year economic recession continues to take a heavy toll on Alabama Baptist families and missions and ministries. Unemployment in the state remains above the national average and has been above the national average for most of the past four years.
Still Alabama Baptists have been remarkably faithful financial stewards. Some comparisons illustrate that conclusion.
Alabama Baptists make up 6.51 percent of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) total membership, according to the 2011 SBC Annual. And even though state residents’ average annual income is below the average for the Southern region, Alabama Baptists’ percentage of total SBC undesignated giving is consistently about 6.50 percent. That means that even though their average income is not as high as their neighbors, Alabama Baptists give as many dollars through their churches as their better-off neighbors give on a per capita basis.
When it comes to supporting missions and ministries through the CP, Alabama Baptists are among the leaders. Again using figures reported in the 2011 SBC Annual, the average percentage of undesignated receipts given by all cooperating churches to missions and ministry causes through the CP was 5.62 percent in 2010. That same year, Alabama Baptists gave an average of 7.35 percent. Without Alabama Baptists’ strong CP support, the SBC average would have been lower still.
In 2009, the average percentage of undesignated receipts given through the CP was 5.87 percent for all SBC churches. For Alabama Baptists, the percentage was 7.51 percent. And so it goes for the past decade.
When it comes to supporting missions and ministries worldwide through the SBC, Alabama Baptists are again among the leaders.
For the 2010–11 budget year, CP contributions for all state conventions totaled $186,386,036. Alabama’s convention gave the most of any state convention — $18,102,416. That means that Alabama Baptists gave 9.71 percent (almost $1 of every $10) of CP receipts given through state conventions. For the 2009–10 fiscal year, the picture was similar. That year, Alabama Baptists gave 9.76 percent of the total. Yet Alabama Baptists make up only 6.51 percent of SBC members and have an annual income below the regional average.
In 2012, Alabama Baptists’ support of missions and ministries through the SBC will be even greater. During the 2011 Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting, a budget was adopted that increased giving to causes outside the state from 42.5 percent to 43 percent of the $43 million budget goal and 50 percent of all receipts above the goal. Alabama Baptists certainly believe in supporting missions and ministries beyond the state.
That commitment has not come without a price. CP giving from churches has dropped more than $4 million from its 2008 high of $44,782,409, and it is unknown whether the downward trend has bottomed out. Obviously there has been a price to pay.
One place impacted by the drop in CP receipts is the SBOM. Since Executive Director Rick Lance assumed office, the full-time staff has been reduced from 119 people to 93 individuals, and more reductions are planned later this year. In addition, employees have had no salary adjustments or increase in benefits for the past four years.
Support for Christian higher education in Alabama has been reduced in order to send more money to SBC causes. Support for Baptist retirement centers has been cut, as has support for The Baptist Foundation of Alabama. Other ministries, like the state Baptist paper, have made cutbacks in various ways in order to live within shrinking budgets.
In 2013, demands on the state side of missions and ministry support will increase. The North American Mission Board (NAMB) will withdraw support for seven SBOM staff positions to which it previously contributed. These are all in the areas of associational missions, evangelism and collegiate ministries. Lance has announced his commitment to keeping these positions because they are “mission critical.” That means replacing funds that previously came from the SBC side of CP receipts with money from the state side.
In addition, NAMB has announced it will withdraw support for other NAMB-appointed missionaries serving in Alabama as well as several specific ministries to which it formerly contributed. NAMB says it needs the funds now used for ministry in the state to help support church starts in “underserved cities” in other parts of the nation.
A task force of state officials and representatives of the state’s directors of missions is currently working to see what steps can be taken to maintain these various missions and ministries in Alabama once funding from the SBC is withdrawn.
Alabama Baptists find themselves in a problematic situation. Because of the lingering recession, CP funds from churches continue to decline. Because of changing strategy at NAMB, support for missions and ministries in Alabama is being significantly reduced. Because of a concern for underserved areas around the world, some want to increase CP support for SBC causes.
How all of this will impact vital missions and ministries in Alabama is yet to be determined. How will Alabama Baptists maintain a strong base of missions and ministries at home — in our churches, associations and state-sponsored ministries — while sharing the good news of God’s grace around the world?
Please pray for Executive Director Rick Lance and all of those who must lead Alabama Baptists as we decide how to pay for the missions and ministries that Baptists do together.
Share with others: