SBOM reduces 2008 CP budget, appoints CP study committee, hears of urban strategy success

LEESBURG (FBC)—"We will not deficit spend," said John Sullivan as he led the State Board of Missions to reduce the 2008 Cooperative Program goal and budget by $1.5 million during its Feb. 8 meeting at Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center.

The 2008 CP budget revision was prompted by a shortfall in 2007 CP receipts, which totaled $39,611,758 or 3.47 percent below budget requirements. To offset the budget shortfall, the 2008 budget of $41,023,077 approved by messengers to the Florida Baptist State Convention in November, was trimmed to $39,485,200, a figure based on receipts from June 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007.

Noting that analyses of giving trends were conducted to determine the cause of the shortfall, Sullivan, Florida Baptist Convention's executive director-treasurer, told the Board, "The only reason we can find for the decrease in Cooperative Program dollars is the downturn in the economy."

Budget cuts were made across the Board incorporating the same percentages as approved by Convention messengers. Reductions totaling $1,537,823 were taken from: church annuity

program, $46,134; church planting $130,000; SBC Cooperative Program, $615,123; Florida Baptist Convention, $568,565; and Florida Baptist Convention agencies and institutions, $178,001.

In "a point of clarification," Jacksonville Board member Spike Hogan asked, "If giving increases will we pass on the extra money to the SBC?"

Sullivan responded affirmatively. "That's the beauty of our budget. Whatever comes in, a percentage will be sent to the SBC, as well as our agencies and institutions. They each would receive their designated percentage."

Despite the news of the budget cuts, Board members were buoyed by reports of giving during the month of January 2008, which for the first time in Convention history surpassed the $4 million mark.

To offset the reduction in the portion of the 2008 budget earmarked for the Florida Baptist Convention, Sullivan announced he had implemented a hiring freeze of Convention staff, effective Jan. 2, 2008, which should result in a savings of $303,765; and reduced or postponed other 2008 projected expenditures which is expected to yield $264,800 in savings.

Sullivan was quick to point out, however, the budget decrease was not expected to "cut into the muscle of the Convention's on-going programs of missions and ministries."

In a related action, the Board authorized the withdrawal of $300,000 from the Florida Baptist Convention's New Work/Church Loan Fund to offset shortfalls in the 2007 Cooperative

Program budget and Maguire State Mission Offering receipts.

The loan money will be reallocated as follows: $168,232.65 for supplemental CP funds to the Florida Baptist agencies and institutions; $88,433.17 for partnership needs in Cuba, Haiti and Brazil not fulfilled by the Maguire State Mission Offering; and $43,334.18 for operating funds for the Convention's South Florida Urban Impact Center in Hialeah.

Until this year, partnership projects funded through the state mission offering were supplemented by CP overages, which made up the difference between the goal amount and actual receipts.

In explaining the use of these loan funds, Sullivan said the money will come from loan interest payments as well as interest earnings on the unused corpus. It will not affect the amount of money underwriting existing or future church loans.

In other business conducted, the Board appointed a Cooperative Program Study Committee, heard reports from the South Florida Urban Impact Ministries and authorized the distribution of 2007 Maguire State Mission Offering proceeds.

The CP study committee will consider the motion referred by messengers during the annual meeting of the Florida Baptist State Convention "to study and move toward an increase of the percentage passed on to the national level over the next five years." The committee is expected to review the CP history and analysis of income in Florida before presenting their findings during the May Board meeting. Chaired by Tim Maynard of Jacksonville, the committee is composed of eight Board members, the Florida Baptist State Convention president and first vice president; and three Convention staff members.

The Board learned that Maguire State Mission Offering receipts for 2007 totaled $1,118,893, marking the sixth time in the past seven years when receipts passed the $1 million benchmark, and authorized the distribution of offering proceeds including $60,637 as shared receipts to associations which met or exceeded their giving goal in 2007.

The Board also adopted a 2008 Maguire State Mission Offering goal of $1,417,500, which will be distributed to 24 mission and ministry efforts within the state and Florida Baptists' partnerships. Two new ministries were included as 2008 allocations-the Florida Baptist Mobile Dental Clinic and port evangelistic ministries.

Several items of business dealt with the progress of the South Florida Urban Impact Ministries Center and the renovation of the First Baptist Church of Hialeah, which had been donated to the Convention by the church to house the new center.

In the first of these, the Board granted approval to a "contractual agreement" between First Hialeah and the Convention which outlines the congregation's continuing use of the facilities as long as it exists and Convention's responsibilities for maintaining the facilities and grounds and the payment of utilities and property insurance.

Secondly, a summary of expenditures and renovations of the Hialeah property was received and the second phase of renovations was authorized by the Board. An amount of $300,000, in addition to the $200,000 previously allocated, was earmarked from the South Florida Assembly fund to continue the renovation and structural improvements.

The Board also learned how the convention's urban impact strategy is affecting the three South Florida associations where an estimated 10 million people-including undercounted and undocumented-live. Highlights of the work included:

• 78 South Florida pastors participated in coaching sessions with Convention staff in 2007;

• 144 pastors—from three language groups-will participate in peer learning groups in 2008;

• 2,017 children enrolled and 216 professions of faiths reported during urban Vacation Bible Schools conducted in Gulf Stream and Miami associations in churches that did not have VBS in 2006; and

• 44 churches were planted in the three associations, representing one third of all new churches in the state in 2007.

The Board was updated on recent events of three moral issues affecting Florida-the electoral approval of Vegas-style slot machines in Miami-Dade County; the successful completion of the campaign to place the Marriage Protection Amendment on the Florida State Nov. 4, 2008 ballot; and the proposed revision of the Florida Board of Education curriculum standards to include the theory of evolution as a science standard.

In response to the evolution issue, Board members asked Sullivan to write a letter to the State Board of Education on behalf of Florida Baptists asking that evolution be taught as a theory with scientific criticisms. The State Board of Education will meet Feb. 19 to consider the curriculum standards.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This issue goes to press Feb. 18 before the Feb. 19 meeting. See full coverage on the Witness website at www.FloridaBaptistWitness.com and in the Feb. 28 issue of the Witness.]

In other action, the Board:

• revised the Florida Baptist Convention's Strategic Plan for 2008, 2009 and 2010;

• approved a three-year Cooperative Agreement between the Florida Baptist Convention and Florida Baptist Witness;

• authorized $75,000 as a one-time fee for a 40-year lease of a property site to accommodate the construction of a Baptist Campus Ministry Center on the University of North Florida campus in Jacksonville.

• reviewed a status report of Florida Baptists' disaster relief response to hunger in Haiti in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Noel's; and

• heard a status report of the Hispanic church-to-church partnership between Florida and the Kentucky Baptist Conventions.

The Board's next meeting is scheduled for May 29-30 at Lake Yale Conference Center.