As Mother’s Day approaches, so does the Sunday when many churches across the South Carolina Baptist Convention receive an annual offering to directly support a few residents at two Baptist retirement facilities.
The Mother’s Day offering for South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging was begun several years ago to help fund capital improvements at the campuses, but it was refocused in 2008 to provide “scholarships” for retired pastors or ministry leaders living at either Martha Franks (Laurens) or Bethea (Darlington) retirement communities.
“While traditional mission projects focus on reaching the unchurched, the mission of SCBMA is to help senior adults age with dignity and grace,” said the ministry’s president, Tom Turner. “Sometimes the help needed is for financial assistance with living expenses in either of our two retirement communities. The scholarships awarded through the Mother’s Day offering provide for some of our own who devoted their lives to serving Christ in Baptist churches and on mission fields.”
Since 2008, the scholarship has provided financial assistance to three retired pastors, three laymen, one pastor’s widow and one missionary.
They came to one of the retirement communities for different reasons. They came from different Southern Baptist ministries. They came with different life experiences. They came at different stages in their lives. But they all stay for the same reason: Living in SCBMA Christ-centered retirement communities helps provide security and extended family for the latter years of their lives.
Just ask Henry Rogers why he moved to Martha Franks in Laurens. He says living at Martha Franks has given him a sense of family and peace of mind because his two children don’t have to worry about him. At Martha Franks, he has day-to-day interaction and fellowship with others, healthy nutritious meals prepared for him, and opportunities to volunteer in ministry by leading devotions. Otherwise, Henry might be living with his children, who work and would worry about leaving him at home alone during the week.
Henry served for more than 40 years as a pastor at several different churches in several different associations. He says he and his late wife, Marguerite, placed Mother’s Day offering envelopes in church pews for many years, never knowing that he might one day benefit from a scholarship the offering provides. When his wife passed away in 2008, Henry knew Martha Franks was where he wanted to live. Without the annual Mother’s Day offering scholarship, though, he feels he most likely would not have been able to live there. Henry says that living at Martha Franks “is as close as you can get to heaven without dying.”
Or ask Ray Patterson about why he chose Martha Franks. After serving four pastorates in North Carolina and South Carolina, Ray and his late wife, Betty, moved into a retirement community near their last church. When Betty passed away, he knew, because of financial concerns, that he could no longer live in that community. He wasn’t sure what he would do or where he would go. Then he heard about the Mother’s Day offering scholarship program. He applied, was approved, and has been living and fellowshipping with other residents since 2011. He also continues to minister to others by leading devotions at Martha Franks.
Without the support of churches and the congregations in the South Carolina Baptist Convention, people like Barry Mitchell, a retired missionary to Brazil for 25 years, might not have been able to move from the apartment he shared with his wife, Laura, at Martha Franks to the assisted-living area when the need arose. Barry and his wife, who passed away in 2012, planned well for their retirement. However, as their retirement funds began dwindling, he applied for a scholarship. As Barry says, “I planned well. I just didn’t think I would live this long.”
There are others like Henry, Ray and Barry who have faithfully served the Lord for many years and may need assistance in their retirement years. Turner says that’s why support of the Mother’s Day offering is “essential to a continued and healthy mission of supporting our retired pastors and missionaries.”
Recipients of the Mother’s Day offering scholarship must meet established guidelines and be approved by the SCBMA’s board of trustees. A qualified recipient is 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. Laypersons with lifelong service to the church or Southern Baptist or South Carolina Baptist conventions may also be considered.
For more information, visit scbma.com.
— Annie K. Eveleigh is director of advancement for South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging.