On Nov. 11, 2025, during the 205th annual SCBaptist convention meeting, the Executive Committee presented a motion to sell the Martha Franks and Bethea Retirement Communities.
Tony Wolfe, executive director-treasurer, said, “We have prayed fervently, forecasted financial models, sought counsel from industry leaders, and pursued every course of possibility we could imagine. What remains is what comes before you in the form of a motion today.”
The first motion passed by 83 percent. 668 total ballets were cast; 554 were in favor and 114 in opposition.
Tom Turner, executive director and CEO of South Carolina Baptist Ministries of Aging, said their ministry has always been clear about their mission: “To provide professional services for seniors, with compassionate care in the name of Jesus Christ so all who we serve will thrive.” And even with the sell of the properties, he said, “This next chapter would allow us to continue fulfilling this mission in new and more accessible ways.”
Those ways include providing financial assistance to retired pastors and missionaries, allowing them to choose where they want to live, instead of limiting them to two facilities. In addition, the SCBMA hopes to reach more seniors across the state with the gospel, instead of solely focusing their efforts in two retirement communities.
The official motion was stated as follows:
“With gratitude in our hearts for how God has worked in and through SCBMA’s retirement community facilities; with utmost respect for past, present, and future residents of the retirement communities; with thanksgiving to SCBMA leadership’s tireless efforts in serving senior adults through this worthy ministry model since 1954; and with great expectation of a future ministry model that multiplies opportunities for senior adult ministry across our state through the South Carolina Baptist Convention, a motion is hereby made to accept the recommendation of the Executive Board of the South Carolina Baptist Convention to approve, in principle, the sale of substantially all of the assets of the Bethea and Martha Franks Retirement Communities, seeking a purchase price that reflects the estimated fair market value of the properties, with the final terms of the definitive transaction documents to be approved by the SCBMA Board of Trustees and the South Carolina Baptist Convention Executive Board being authorized to approve the actual transaction, including the contract, on behalf of the the Convention.”
More information is coming soon.