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NASHVILLE?One by one, the heads of Southern Baptist Convention entities took a seat at a table Feb.16 across from members of the SBC Executive Committee’s Cooperative Program (CP) Subcommittee, which is tasked with recommending the funding percentage each entity receives from Southern Baptists’ cooperative missions giving program.
Without exception, each leader thanked Southern Baptists for their faithfulness even in tough economic times.
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary President Jeff Iorg said that two weeks earlier, another seminary in his region had closed. The school was dependent upon one donor for its funding, Iorg explained, reminding him again that “through the Cooperative Program we have a gift from God for challenging times.”
Unlike their counterparts in economically depressed industries, those at the helms of Southern Baptist mission boards, commissions and seminaries echoed Iorg’s sentiment that “there is no doubt we are going to move through this,” with each pledging to stay on mission.
The Executive Committee voted Feb. 17 to recommend a $204.3 million CP Allocation Budget to the SBC during its June 23-24 annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., down more than $1.3 million from last year’s budget. CP receipts for 2007-08 (down 0.65 percent from the prior year) set the maximum amount allowed for the 2009-2010 CP Allocation Budget.
The proposed budget maintains current allocations to the convention’s ministries, including 50 percent of receipts to the International Mission Board and 22.79 percent to the North American Mission Board. The convention’s six seminaries will receive a combined 21.92 percent. According to the seminary enrollment formula, Southern would receive 4.96 percent (down from 4.98 percent); Southwestern, 4.84 percent (up from 4.81 percent); New Orleans, 4.39 percent (down from 4.41 percent); Southeastern, 4.04 percent (down from 4.15 percent); Midwestern, 1.90 percent (up from 1.77 percent); and Golden Gate, 1.80 percent (down from 1.81 percent).
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission would continue to receive 1.65 percent
of the budget, while the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives would receive .24 percent. The SBC Operating Budget, encompassing the SBC annual meeting costs, the work of the convention between annual meetings and the Executive Committee, would receive 3.4 percent of the CP budget. The current staff salary structure for the Executive Committee employees will continue with no pay raises projected.
“Never has there been a time the six of us so recognized what a gift CP is to our Southern Baptist seminaries,” added Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. “Governments come and go. The stock market rises and falls. God, in the midst of it all, is still on his throne,” Akin wrote in his report.
Each seminary president outlined cost-cutting measures that in some cases included staff reductions and hiring freezes to survive the prospect of reduced income, several of them noting severe losses to their endowments.
“It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good and it has made all of our seminaries more grateful for the Cooperative Program and our churches when they’re faithful in spite of the struggle,” noted Paige Patterson of Southwestern Seminary.
New Orleans Seminary President Charles Kelley said contingency plans are in place with a commitment to operate in the black, even while continuing to recover from the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
“Theological education is a personnel-intensive industry as we put teachers in touch with well over 4,500 students at Southern Seminary,” explained R. Albert Mohler.
“The real security and power of CP is not the money, but that your six seminaries belong to someone?the churches.” They not only provide the funding, he said, but a voice.
“We don’t want to waste a crisis,” he added, pledging strategic use of CP funds. “We are six different institutions with six different stories, but we belong to one family of Southern Baptist churches.”
Economic realities are impacting student enrollment, one seminary president noted, explaining that many students cannot afford to return from one semester to the next.
Midwestern Seminary President R. Philip Roberts eased the serious tone with a lighthearted confession at being grateful that the Kansas City school has the least endowment of all six seminaries.
“There’s probably never been a time I thanked God that we are the most dependent of all the seminaries on the Cooperative Program,” he said, sharing that half of the MBTS budget comes from CP allocations?which are not as susceptible as endowments to market changes.
Still, Roberts, while also reporting good financial reserves, said precautions were taken to under spend the current budget by 10 percent and freeze non-essential hiring,.
