An undisclosed number of full-time employees of the South Carolina Baptist Convention may elect to accept a voluntary early retirement incentive in the coming months, according to an April 26 news release from SCBC executive director-treasurer Gary Hollingsworth.

In a meeting Wednesday in the Baptist building in Columbia, Hollingsworth told eligible employees that the plan will “become effective” June 30. Some staff members at the convention’s White Oak Conference Center in Winnsboro are also among those who will be eligible for early retirement, Hollingsworth said.

“This incentive is being offered only as a way to possibly bless those who, by taking an early retirement, may still be able to serve the kingdom significantly in different ways during the years ahead,” Hollingsworth said in the news release.

Hollingsworth said the early retirement incentive was affirmed earlier this year by the Administrative Committee of the SCBC Executive Board and was unanimously approved by the full board at its April 24 spring meeting in Columbia.

Below is the full text of Hollingsworth’s news release:

On April 26, 2017, Gary Hollingsworth, SCBC executive director-treasurer, met with full-time convention staff who qualify for a voluntary early retirement incentive (ERI). The purpose of this meeting was to share with them the details of the offering. This voluntary ERI will become effective June 30, 2017, and is being made available to South Carolina Baptist Convention and White Oak Conference Center employees who qualify.

Hollingsworth said, “The South Carolina Baptist Convention is blessed to have so many godly and gifted women and men who serve our convention faithfully. This incentive is being offered only as a way to possibly bless those who, by taking an early retirement, may still be able to serve the kingdom significantly in different ways during the years ahead.”

The names of those who choose to exercise the voluntary ERI will be released in July once declarations have been made.

This decision was affirmed early in the year by the administrative committee of the SCBC and was also unanimously affirmed by the full Executive Board in their April 24, 2017, meeting at the Baptist Building in Columbia.