Point of View

The Florida Baptist State Convention is an autonomous organization – as are churches, associations and the Southern Baptist Convention – that has influence, but no authority, over any church, pastor or member of our affiliate churches. The Florida Baptist State Convention is designed for one reason: to assist our churches in impacting the people of Florida with the Gospel of Christ. There may be other reasons for its existence but not in my understanding.

The stunning fact is that the Florida Baptist State Convention meets only two days each year during the annual convention meeting. The remainder of the year the ministry is designed and implemented by the State Board of Missions, which is elected by messengers attending the Florida Baptist State Convention. Every association has at least one member on the Board. The remaining Board members are elected based on a formula that considers the membership size of each association. The Board consists of no more than 99 members and no less than 90.

The State Board of Missions meets five times each year. The members are divided into six committees for working purposes. The Board employs the Florida Baptist Convention staff and holds them accountable for their assigned tasks. The Board sets policy and the executive director-treasurer has the task of implementing the policy of the Board. Let me say it another way, the Board builds the fence and staff lives within the fence. One thing I will be eternally grateful for is that you give us good people to work with on the State Board of Missions. This enables us to do good work.

All Board members are members of Florida Baptist churches, as are all trustees of our four agencies and institutions – Florida Baptist Children’s Homes, Florida Baptist Financial Services, The Baptist College of Florida and Florida Baptist Witness. I would not want it any other way. There are only two reasons why trustees would be recruited from outside the state – the lack of potential leadership within the state or financial reasons. Neither of those reasons hold true in Florida.

The trustee system in Florida follows the same process as churches. Members are recommended for a position, evaluated and voted on. Then they serve at the pleasure of the adopted bylaws of the State Board of Missions and the Florida Baptist State Convention.

The State Board meets in January, May and September for two days. The Board meets twice in conjunction with the Florida Baptist State Convention, on the day prior to the start of the annual meeting and again on the second day. These meetings result in recommendations of personnel, budget, bylaws, etc. Many of the recommendations will be taken to the annual meeting of the State Convention for further action.

As executive director, I have led the staff to develop our program of missions and ministries based on three priorities: (1) evangelism without apology; (2) intentional church starting; and (3) strengthening existing churches to a healthier ministry. The State Board of Missions monitors our work through the development of a strategic plan. Budgeting for the strategic plan comes from the Cooperative Program and other budgetable income, including funds from the North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources, GuideStone Financial Resources and conference centers.

We develop our budget through a system called “OGAP,” an acronym for “Objectives, Goals and Action Plans.” This system enables us not only to budget dollars but to track the designed use of the dollars. It is a rather involved system but it allows us to track every budget dollar that comes through the accounting department.

Well, that’s basically how it works. It also works because we work at making it work. We believe our work as a convention is not only under the direction of the executive director-treasurer, but also under the will and blessing of the Heavenly Father. Because of your prayers and support, you make our work easier and better.

This is fourth in the series, “How Does It Work,” designed to explain how the Florida Baptist State Convention functions.