State Board clears debt, approves record budget goal

The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) is officially debt-free. And officials announced that the status comes five years ahead of schedule.

In 1998, an addition to the Baptist Building in Montgomery was completed and it was anticipated that it would take 15 years to pay off the $6.5-million debt.

But because of the Cooperative Program (CP), the allocation of interest income and the generosity of Alabama Baptists in giving above the CP budget goals, the SBOM was able to meet the deadline ahead of schedule.

Sharing the announcement during the Feb. 25 SBOM meeting in Montgomery, Rick Lance, SBOM executive director, said, "The money in that line item will now go to the capital improvements line item and address future building needs."

And that money will certainly be welcome if the decision is made to relocate the Baptist Building to the Interstate 65 corridor north of Montgomery.

The SBOM continues to assess this option while also negotiating sale of the land it owns on Taylor Road.

Rusty Sowell, reporting to the SBOM for the properties committee, said that because of ongoing negotiations, the committee could only say it is involved in these discussions.

"The negotiation is not complete but it is far along," he said.

In other business, the SBOM approved a recommendation for a 2009 CP Challenge Budget of $47 million. This recommendation includes a base budget of $46 million and state causes budget of $500,000.

The base budget is a 2.3 percent increase over the 2007 base budget receipts of $44,958,759.

In 2007, Alabama Baptists exceeded budget goals in all areas except world hunger, which had a goal of $875,000. Only $678,947 was contributed. More than $1 million was given above the $43,925,000 CP Base Budget, and more than $115,000 was given above the CP State Causes Budget of $400,000. Giving toward the $10-million goal for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and $5-million goal for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering saw about a 20 percent increase with $11,957,069 and $6,066,236, respectively.

Disaster relief funds came in about 18 percent over the goal of $100,000, with $118,560.

And the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries (ABCH) saw around a 32 percent increase over the $2,450,000 goal, with $3,253,571.

Paul Miller, ABCH executive director, noted that some of the increase came in the form of church property being donated after a church closed.