RICHMOND—Virginia Baptists funded their 2008 budget at almost 98 percent—a noteworthy event in the midst of a severe economic crisis, said leaders of the Baptist General Association of Virginia.
Last year, BGAV churches contributed $14,092,291 toward the state association's Cooperative Missions budget of $14,360,000, just $267,709 shy of the total.
“We were literally blown away with gratitude and joy,” said Eddie Stratton, BGAV treasurer. “Considering all the news that was reported daily of economic conditions that were not good and knowing many of our churches were experiencing their own difficulty in meeting their budgets makes this an even greater blessing. I am grateful to our churches and especially the church treasurers who made sure these Cooperative Missions dollars were reported in 2008.”
Stratton said the impressive gain was helped by a record $1,811,150 in contributions during December—almost $1 million more than the month before and $334,000 more that contributions in December 2007.
Like the rest of the country, the BGAV and its churches have struggled in the growing recession. After the first quarter of 2008, Stratton and BGAV executive director John Upton adjusted the budget of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, reducing expenses by 10 percent and freezing hiring on some vacant positions and eliminating one.
“Those decisions proved to be right as the VBMB budget came in at a little under 92 percent,” said Stratton.
Cooperative Missions receipts in 2008 were lower than those in 2007, which reached $14,442,553.
Total receipts—which includes CM, offerings and designated gifts—reached $21,014,850 in 2008, about $845,326 lower than the $21,860,176 given in 2007.
The 2009 budget approved at last November's BGAV annual meeting is $13.8 million, about $560,000 less than the 2008 budget.
While $560,000 is a “big loss,” BGAV budget committee chair Tom McCann told Virginia Baptists last November that “these agencies are staffed by people of great creativity and capacity. I think they will do with $13.8 million as much as they could have done with $14.3 million by honing, re-evaluating staff needs, re-evaluating costs and trying to accomplish as much as we can with the funds available. …
“Ultimately, this $13.8 million is going to be applied in such a careful way that the needs and aspirations you have will be met as best as we possibly can,” he said.
Three of Virginia Baptists' statewide mission offerings also were down in 2008. The BGAV's Alma Hunt Offering for Virginia Missions reached $950,982, down 9.16 percent; the Southern Baptist Convention's Lottie Moon Offering for International Missions gained $3,322,973, down 8.32 percent; and the SBC's Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions reached $1,425,410, down 2.58 percent. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Global Missions Offering reached $549,991, up 5 percent.
Meanwhile, other state and national denominational bodies are seeing reduced receipts as well. Year-to-date contributions through the SBC's Cooperative Program are 4.97 percent behind last year, according to Baptist Press.
As of Dec. 31, year-to-date totals of $47,257,977 for CP missions is $2,473,747 below the $49,731,723 received at the same point a year earlier. December receipts of $14,073,779 were 14.67 percent below the $16,493,736 received in December 2007.
The SBC's designated giving of $11,000,512 for the same year-to-date period is 4.03 percent, or $461,580, below gifts of $11,462,092 received at this point last year. The $3,335,205 in designated gifts received last month 28.67 percent below the $4,675,646 received in December 2007. The SBC operates on an Oct. 1-Sept. 30 fiscal year.