State executive committee taps new officers

Election of new officers and personnel, approval of a document related to cooperation in North American missions, and setting budgetary goals were among the actions taken by the executive committee of the State Board of Missions during its Jan. 23 meeting.

The new officers include: chairman, Joe Godfrey, pastor of Taylor Road Baptist Church, Montgomery, who serves in the post by virtue of his election as state convention president last November; vice chairman, Henry Cox, pastor of Bay Minette First Baptist Church; and secretary, Jeff Redmond, pastor of Carrville Baptist Church in Tallassee.

The committee unanimously approved Lee Wright as an associate in the office of LeaderCare/church administration. He has served as discipleship/missions pastor since 1981 at Heritage Baptist Church, Mont­gomery. Executive Director Rick Lance, who recommended Wright’s election, said, “Lee comes highly recommended. He promises to be a task-oriented person who will serve Alabama Baptists as one who is experienced in the area of church administration.”

During Wright’s tenure at the church, which has spanned the ministries of three pastors, he helped lead Heritage to more than double its Bible study attendance, establish dual Sunday Schools and lead the church in small group discipleship involving as many as 400 people.

Wright earned a bachelor of arts  from Howard Payne Uni­versity and a masters in religious education  from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, the former Linette Holt, have two daughters.

In other actions, the executive committee voted unanimously to:

-Approve a new cooperative agreement between the North American Mission Board and the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. The document will also be considered by the entire State Board during its Feb. 4 meeting.

-Set percentages and amounts for its 2004 Cooperative Program budget recommendation. The base amount will be $40,427,480, which remains unchanged from 2003. The allocation formula for undesignated receipts will be 57.7 percent for state convention causes and 42.3 percent for Southern Baptist Convention causes.

“We are grateful that Alabama Baptists have exceeded their budget for the 10th consecutive year,” Lance noted. “But with the economic effect of 9/11 and other factors, we feel we must budget a bit more cautiously for the year 2004.”

Lance told the committee he and the budget advisory committee had recommended no increase in the amount of the base budget because of a smaller increase in receipts during 2002.                           

(ABSC)