South Carolina Baptists know that missions work takes many forms. While traditional missions is reaching the unchurched, within South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging (SCBMA), that also includes providing for our own in the later stages of life.
It is a reality that many devoted pastors, missionaries and their spouses find themselves in the retirement phase of life with limited funds. For this reason, the board of trustees for SCBMA created a special program in 2008 to use the annual Mother’s Day Offering specifically to help support those elderly brothers and sisters who have devoted their lives to serving Christ in our Baptist churches. The program provides monthly assistance for individuals to live in one of the two Baptist retirement communities in South Carolina – Martha Franks in Laurens and Bethea in Darlington. These communities serve an average population of 350 seniors, many of whom are retired Baptists.
The offering, received in churches throughout the state on Mother’s Day, provides a vehicle for all South Carolina Baptists to minister to these dedicated senior adults. This May, SCBMA will again ask churches and individuals to participate in the Mother’s Day Offering.
The program’s funds have continued to grow, even amid economic difficulties over the last several years. With this growth, SCBMA’s board of trustees has been able to award two new Mother’s Day program recipients this year, increasing the total recipients to four.
Recipients of the Mother’s Day Offering fund must meet established guidelines, and their assistance is provided through generated earnings accumulated in the fund. A qualified recipient must be an active or retired Southern Baptist minister, missionary or spouse with a history of involvement and support of ministries and missions endorsed by the Cooperative Program. A godly layperson with lifelong service to the church or the Southern Baptist or South Carolina Baptist conventions can also be considered eligible.
Like so many Americans, our nation’s seniors are experiencing many financial hardships due to our current economic situation. While SCBMA recognizes that many of our congregations are dealing with the economic downturn as well, it also realizes that continued support of the Mother’s Day Offering is essential to a continued and healthy mission to our retired pastors and missionaries.
As in years past, each local church in South Carolina will have the opportunity to partner with SCBMA to provide financial assistance through the 2011 Mother’s Day Offering. It is our prayer that as the fund continues to grow, many more seniors will be able to benefit from the care and love of Baptist churches in South Carolina and through South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging.
Mother’s Day Offering materials can be requested through the SCBMA office at 190 Stoneridge Drive, Columbia, S.C., 29210, or by calling 803-227-6051.
– Turner is president of South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging.