When messengers gather at Greensboro’s Koury Convention Center for the annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) Nov. 9-11, they’ll be presented with a proposed budget for 2010 that’s 12 percent smaller than the current one. The current budget, optimistically approved back in 2007, calls for annual income of $39.2 million; the new one contracts to $34.8 million.
That should come at no surprise, because through the first eight months of the year, income for the BSCNC was already $4.26 million (16.6 percent) below budget, and 4.6 percent behind the previous year’s giving.
There’s no doubt that the troubled economy has played a role in the convention’s sliding income, but it’s certainly not the only factor – 2009 is the fifth year out of the past seven in which BSCNC income has fallen from the previous year.
That trend matches up with the accelerated exodus of moderates and even borderline folk from active roles in the BSCNC as the convention has adopted an increasingly harder line in relating to churches that are more comfortable supporting the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) than the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
Next year’s budget, which continues a five-year trend of increasing the SBC’s take of BSCNC income by half a percent each year, will be the first in nearly two decades to offer no option for supporting CBF instead of the SBC.
According to reporting by the Biblical Recorder, budget chair Steve Hardy explained the committee’s priorites to the BSCNC’s Board of Directors this way: “When people ask you about the budget I want you to say we are prioritizing three things: more money to our Southern Baptist ministry partners; evangelism and church planting.”
During the same meeting, BSCNC executive director Milton Hollifield reflected on ministry plans for 2010 by saying “This state convention could function without a relationship with the SBC. But we connect with, partner with the SBC entities because we are Southern Baptist churches. I’m pleased and proud of that relationship.”
Those statements should answer any and all questions about why churches who no longer feel at home in the SBC are also finding less reason to support the new BSCNC. It’s no wonder that BSCNC revenue is falling and church contributions through the missions resource plan of CBFNC have increased dramatically during the past year: the SBC-ification of the Baptist State Convention is complete.
5 comments:
No one ever accused Milton of being a visionary leader. He does what he's told. I hope this means he'll save some postage and stop sending my church repeated requests for more money, 'cause we're not sending any. Not ever again.
Sad, but honestly pretty freeing that the facade of cooperation is finally gone. BSCNC equals SBC in NC. Period.
Maybe now the remaining moderate churches can stop investing energy in this fight and put it toward things that matter. The night our church voted to stop funding BSCNC was one of the most refreshing business meetings I've ever been to. Kerygma said it well: Not ever again.
LTR
Though I am new to BSCNC politics and such, I still find that there are several 1963 BF&M churches in NC that are still not sure which direction to go. These things even trickle down to dividing congregations.
Too, last year's vote to remove CBF from the BSCNC budget was by a small margin. In fact, only one third of the registered delegates were present for that vote.
Though I am excited for CBFNC to receive more funds, I don't want to give up on the BSCNC just yet.
Given your earlier comments (July 5, 2009 blog) that BSCNC revenue is down just 15% while CBF national revenue is down 20%, it seems the departure of moderates may not be nearly as consequential financially as you're indicating in this blog. SBC politics aside, I wonder if moderates just don't give as much as conservatives, generally speaking.
Certainly many moderate churches are still hanging with the BSCNC (and perhaps other state conventions), so that may explain why CBF national has seen a larger drop than the various state conventions. (In other words, the numbers may "catch up" in coming years as more moderate churches make the switch.) Any thoughts?
Hi DC,
While I noted that gifts to CBFNC are continuing to increase, that doesn't necessarily apply to CBF national, which remains in the financial doldrums.
And, in NC, the amount moving to CBFNC is only a fraction of what's no longer going to the BSCNC. More and more churches are directing more of their funds to local ministries or other entities they want to support.
Denominational loyalty isn't what it used to be for either conservatives or moderates, but I think you're correct that conservatives give a higher percentage, at least to denominational coffers.
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