The South Carolina Baptist Ministries of Aging (SCBMA) has completed the sale of its two senior living communities, nine months after messengers to the 2025 Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention (SCBaptist) voted to seek the sale.
The transaction to sell Bethea in Darlington and Martha Franks in Laurens closed July 31, 2026. The communities are now led by Oakdale Senior Alliance, a professional management organization that operates senior living facilities in several states. Residents at the two facilities will be cared for by the same staff members they already know, as Oakdale Senior Alliance retained the employees as part of the transition.
“We are confident we selected an organization that understands the importance of honoring the heritage of Bethea and Martha Franks,” SCBMA President and CEO Tom Turner said. “We are grateful to the residents, families, team members, churches and supporters who have been part of these communities.”
The president of Oakdale Senior Alliance, Cyndi Matheny, indicated her intention that the organization would carry on the rich legacy of Bethea and Martha Franks. The SCBMA will continue to be a resource to both communities during the transition.
Prior to bringing the proposal to messengers last November, the decision followed 18 months of prayer, research, and financial review by SCBMA and SCBaptist leadership.
As discussed at the annual meeting, the sale of these properties was the result of both economic and market-driven factors that led to the crossroads for the ministry, some of it involving rising costs after the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for capital projects and renovations.
South Carolina is home to nearly 1,040,000 senior adults, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The sale ushers in a new opportunity to reimagine the ministry model to serve and reach senior adults with the Gospel.
“One chapter has closed on the SCBMA’s ministry assignment, and a new chapter has begun,” SCBaptist Executive Director-Treasurer Tony Wolfe said. “The ministry ahead of us will include a broader strategy that has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of senior adults across our state with both Great Commandment and Great Commission intentionality.”
The new framework for the ministry model will be developed in coordination between the SCBaptist Executive Board and the SCBMA Board of Trustees, and the framework will be presented to the Convention at the annual meeting this November in Columbia.
— Anna Gardner serves as the creative editor for the SCBC.
