A 7.9 percent decline in statewide missions support, the establishment of a South Carolina task force to assess the impact of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force report, and a discussion of concerns of former convention staffers were on the agenda when the South Carolina Baptist Convention Executive Board gathered April 12-13 for its spring meeting at White Oak Conference Center in Winnsboro.
Executive Board members also approved spending $530,000 for bedding upgrades for White Oak, addressed human resource staffing needs at the convention building in Columbia and heard reports concerning year-end audits.
Gifts decline in 2009
Bill Gaines, chairman of the budget, finance and audit committee, reported that 2009 total missions giving was down from $50.4 million in 2008 to $46.4 million. As part of the total, Cooperative Program, Cooperative Gifts, and week of prayer offerings for Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong and Janie Chapman all showed decreases of between 1-10 percent.
Because the 2009 budget gifts were $2.6 million less than the budget goal, the Executive Board distributed 90 percent of the shortfall in budgeted funds to the Southern Baptist Convention, the institutions of the convention, and Woman’s Missionary Union. A total of $1.6 million was distributed from the convention’s contingent reserve, leaving a balance of $6.3 million.
Despite the shortfall, Gaines said, “we were very pleased to see that the convention staff did an excellent job in managing expenses and ended the year with revenues exceeding expenses.”
At Tuesday morning’s session, Gaines reported unqualified or “clean” opinions from the financial audits of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, North Greenville University, South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging, and The Baptist Courier. Other institutional audits are timed with the closing of fiscal years, which are on varying timelines. Audits were performed by the firm of CapinCrouse, which has also been retained for financial years ending during 2010.
Assessing GCR report
Executive Board chairman Ed Carney announced the appointment of a task force to assess the possible impact of recommendations under consideration by the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The SBC group will release its final report May 3 in advance of possible adoption at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando June 15-16.
Previously published reports indicate that GCR proposals, if adopted, could directly affect states that have cooperative work agreements with the North American Mission Board. South Carolina has such cooperative agreements with NAMB, which help fund the work of 66 missionaries in the state, including 43 church planters.
Members of the South Carolina task force, in addition to Carney, include SCBC president Fred Stone, Connie Maxwell Children’s Home president Ben Davis, and Executive Board officers Wofford Caughman and Keith Davis.
Employee concerns raised
After a Monday night question-and-answer time and a closed-door executive session, the Executive Board adopted twin measures designed to address apparent “undercurrents” of concern on the part of former SCBC building employees.
Executive Board members approved two measures. The first calls for clarifying and communicating the process available to SCBC employees for filing grievances. The second calls for Executive Board members to begin holding “listening sessions” with employees in order “to hear both affirmations about the way the convention is going and concerns people have,” said chairman Carney.
Carney told the Courier the actions were taken in order “to get information out and let [employees] know why some decisions were made.” He declined to discuss individuals who may have raised concerns.
“It was a good, democratic catharsis,” Carney said of the executive session. “The Executive Board wants what is best for the convention.”
During the discussion, board members were invited to address questions to a panel consisting of chairman Carney, SCBC president Fred Stone and SCBC executive director-treasurer Jim Austin. Other panel members included vice chairman Wofford Caughman, D.J. Horton (chairman of administrative committee), Bill Gaines (chairman of budget, finance and audit committee) and former Executive Board member Dennis Wilkins (who chaired the budget, finance and audit committee last year).
Additionally, the board heard an administrative committee recommendation to begin creation of a human resources office to review hiring policies for convention staff. The convention staff management team will bring a proposal back to the administrative committee for review.
White Oak spending approved
On a recommendation from the properties committee, the Executive Board approved an expenditure of $530,000 to replace some full-size beds at White Oak Conference Center with 163 bunk bed sets (326 beds). Two retractable bunk bed sets (four beds) will replace one of the full-size beds in each of the rooms in motels B and C.
The retrofitting project is part of Phase II of upgrades at the conference center in an effort to increase ministry opportunities and income and to decrease the amount of Cooperative Program funds needed to support the convention-owned conference center. Funds for the improvements will come from the Executive Board Fund Balance.
Eddie Fulmer, properties committee chairman, said the single beds are necessary because most group leaders no longer want their guests to be required to share a bed (especially for youth and men’s groups). Motel A will continue to offer two full-size beds in each room.
Fulmer told the Courier that White Oak has “commitments from people who say they’ll use White Oak if we get the beds upgraded.”
Fulmer, a building contractor and president of Master Construction in Chapin, also told the Courier it was important to design a bed that will serve the needs of church youth groups without turning the motel rooms in “bunk houses,” noting that guests of all ages will continue to use the rooms. The retracting beds, similar to flying beds, will fold up neatly against the wall when not in use, he said.
The beds will be custom-built. Fulmer said he hopes the project will be completed by August but said installation could be delayed if White Oak needs to house groups during the scheduled installation period.
Orman’s Welding in Mississippi provided the low bid of $423,000 for the project. The bid was 18 percent lower than the next closest bid. The bid includes manufacturing, shipping and installation of the beds. The additional $127,000 budgeted for the project will be applied to mattresses, linens, and extra storage space for existing inventory. The beds include a two-year warranty.
It was acknowledged that Orman’s Welding is owned by Roger Orman’s brother, David, but Fulmer, in his report to the full board, noted that “Roger completely backed out of this process and was not a part of it.” Roger Orman is associate executive director of the SCBC communications and mission development team. Referencing the bidding process, Fulmer told the Courier he felt that the properties committee “handled it the correct way” and noted that there was “no strong opposition” in the full Executive Board meeting.
White Oak Conference Center will repay $265,000 of the expenditure over the next five years. Fulmer told the Courier that scheduled timber harvests on White Oak property in 2011 and 2013, combined with income from adding more camps, will help fund the repayment.
Baptisms up
In his Tuesday morning remarks to the Executive Board, executive director-treasurer Austin provided 2009 statistical accomplishments including 18,970 total baptisms, representing a three-year high within the SCBC and 3,040 increase over the 2008 total. Baptisms had decreased from 2007 to 2008. (See full reporting in the Courier’s April 1 issue.)
Also, Austin reported 97,406 missions volunteers, which was a three-year high and 4,600 more than 2007.
Austin’s report also noted: Cooperative Program percentage is up from the previous year; Converge, an annual meeting of college students, was up significantly this year; SummerSalt (youth camp) registrations are up dramatically for the summer of 2010; men’s ministry has seen increases with the 2010 bow hunts being maxed out; guest nights at White Oak Conference Center are up 5 percent as a result of marketing and facility improvements; church plants are up.
Retirees honored
The board praised James Wright, retiring associate executive director and chief financial officer of the convention, for his 32 years of service. Members also honored Howard Ellis, a 31-year staff member at White Oak Conference Center, and Jim Simpson, discipleship and prayer strategist, multiplication team, for more than 23 years of service.
The budget, finance and audit committee, with input from the planning and ministries committee, will serve as the search committee to fill Wright’s position. The planning and ministries committee will serve as the search committee to fill the associate executive director of the evangelism and mission team, left vacant by Marshall Fagg, who resigned recently. In the interim, Jim Austin will give leadership to the convention’s evangelistic work, with Wayne Terry giving leadership to the mission focus.
– This story was compiled from an SCBC news release and from reporting by managing editor Butch Blume and editor Don Kirkland.