First Quarter a Jolt

The first quarter report of Cooperative Program gifts from churches to ministries of the Baptist State Convention is jolting. Gifts are 7.9 percent lower than the same period last year, and 14.9 percent below budget.

No one is going to panic after just the first quarter report. In fact, gifts are not monitored quarterly, but daily. So the report is no surprise to the financial leaders Milton Hollifield and John Butler.

The question is, "What does it mean?"

No doubt the drop looks so severe in part because many Sunday March 30 gifts did not make it to Cary in time to be recorded by Monday night, March 31. But weekly reports in March had been tailing downward.

The Biblical Recorder is preparing a story on the North Carolina economy and its effect on churches. If you have a comment or insight on that, post it here or email steve @ biblicalrecorder.org.

Giving patterns will naturally reflect the economy. Psychology is also important. I lived through the oil crash in Oklahoma in the mid 80s and even those unaffected with job loss or depressed house prices pulled in protectively.

There is so much negative news today it is natural to pull in protectively. I appreciate what Hollifield said in the news story about the Cooperative Program's first quarter report. "We will continue to exhibit healthy concern, but not fear as we move forward in this budget year," he said.

Fear is not a Christian attribute."For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship." (Rom. 8:15)

Besides the economy and fear, other elements are at work that will be reflected in giving patterns beyond the local church. Among them are competition for missions dollars by para-church organizations; increasing viability of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as a cooperative missions entity; increased involvement in local missions that require reallocation of local dollars; decline in local church reliance on a denominational entity for training, resources or missions direction and charitable attraction of other pressing needs globally.

While this quarter's giving paints the notion starkly, in fact individuals and churches for some time have been less automatic in giving to traditional recipients.When patterns are interrupted by conflict or simply new possibilities, and churches are faced for the first time in decades with decisions about where to give, they often decide to keep the money home.

Please don't draw global conclusions from a sobering first quarter report on Cooperative Program giving. But those whose ministries live or die by those numbers are watching closely, and praying for a generous spirit among North Carolina Baptists in the coming months.

Posted by jameson ( Apr 02 2008, 04:43:34 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [2]

Working Nudget

As it turns out the 2008 North Carolina Missions Offering goal and allocations approved by the Executive Committee and Board of Directors to be considered by messengers Nov. 14 did not come as a recommendation from the budget committee.

Budget Committee chair Larry Burns called me to clarify because at least one committee member thought she had missed a meeting when the Biblical Recorder story published Nov. 3 said "Executive Committee members approved a recommendation from the budget committee." In one sense the difference is finer than a frog hair sliced three ways, since whatever recommendation came forth, from whoever offered it, the Executive Committee and then the Board of Directors had to approve anything that's going to be presented to messengers, which they did.

In another sense, the fact that the budget committee actually did not meet during the month delay from September to a special called meeting Oct. 29 begs the question "What was the delay all about?" The reason given for the NCMO budget not being presented to the board with the rest of the budget recommendations in September was that NCMO receipts were so far behind budget, another month was needed to monitor those receipts before an informed 2008 recommendation could be offered.

The Oct. 29 meeting - called primarily to deal with final budget matters, especially the NCMO - was a joint meeting of the Executive Committee and the budget committee. Burns said Nov. 6 that the budget committee wanted a joint meeting to "get a greater consensus" for the final recommendation to the Board of Directors, which met immediately following the joint meeting.

. The budget committee is made up of eight people, plus the five officers, who serve as ex officio members. The budget committee members are Burns as chair, Bill Grisham, Sarah Knott, Sandra James, who is president of Woman's Missionary Union, Lisa Horton, Greg Mathis, Steve Hardy and Don Warren. Only Grisham, Mathis, Knott and Warren are not also on the Executive Committee. Knott is a Board of Directors member. Grisham, Mathis and Knott made the called meeting, in addition to the Executive Committee members. The five officers are President Stan Welch, First Vice President Rick Speas, Second Vice President Leland Kerr, Board President Allan Blume and Vice President Terry Larsen.

So, the majority of the budget committee members are also on the Executive Committee and all but one of those who are not did attend the joint meeting.

After Executive Committee member Cindy Stevens proposed that Woman's Missionary Union be authorized to receive a special offering for its own support, the door was open for the NCMO allocations to be proposed.

Executive Committee chair and Board President Allan Blume called on Burns whose first response was to ask Sandra James if she had any comments. Evidently Burns was expecting James to present some figures showing where WMU anticipates income, figures which he had not received as budget committee chair. James apparently did not know exactly what Burns was looking for.

Because no more than three people around the table understand how WMU could make the move they are making without more "guaranteed" income than they evidently have lined up, there was still a sense that WMU is holding back income information. But James turned to WMU Director Ruby Fulbright for help and Fulbright listed WMU income as Cooperative Program, NCMO and registration fees for programs they present.

When asked about income from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina, which has WMU in its budget and is receiving a special offering for WMU, Fulbright said they received just $7,000 last year from CBF and had as yet received no money from the special offering.

After that dialog, Burns laid out his proposal for the NCMO allocations. He made his motion, then asked for a second. Had his motion come from the budget committee, no second would have been necessary.

In conversation later, Burns said that his proposal was just that, a proposal, put onto the table as a starting point for discussion. Since no one questioned his figures or logic, his initial offering became the recommendation the Board of Directors approved and that will be presented Nov. 14 for adoption by messengers to the annual session.

It is difficult to separate Burns' role as budget committee chair from his role simply as a member of the Executive Committee. I suspect that when he offered his proposal, even though he asked for a second to his motion, I was not alone in assuming it was the recommendation of the budget committee.

It makes no difference ultimately. The Board approved what the Board approved.

One possible difference in process could be that discussion is easier and franker in a smaller setting and both opinions and budgets can be calculated and nudged without the weight of the larger deliberative body. In a committee established specifically for that purpose, budget committee members could have hashed and thrashed freely over allocations and goal setting. James' minority position would not have been quite so lonely as it is in the larger body of the Executive Committee.

None of the other budget committee members offered a contrary opinion to Burns' proposal. So that in effect became their proposal too.

Posted by jameson ( Nov 07 2007, 08:17:21 AM EST ) Permalink