Recent staff reductions at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship are the result of a downturn in unrestricted income, according to Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley.
The change is a somewhat rapid response to real-time conditions, Baxley told BNG in a Feb. 3 interview. At the time a budget was adopted at last year’s General Assembly, unrestricted giving to CBF was running 8.5% ahead of the previous year, he said. But by mid-fall, income was running 8.5% behind.
The reduction of seven positions will save about $700,000, he said. CBF’s current budget is $16.08 million, including $5.8 million for Global Missions.
The current year’s budget is $1.37 million less than the prior year, mainly due to the decisions of 13 field personnel to take last year’s early retirement offer.
The seven positions eliminated from CBF’s staff all were occupied, meaning seven people were affected by the changes. Only one of those has been named publicly, and that is the role of director of chaplaincy and pastoral counseling ministries.
Renee Owen
Renée Owen held that position but has been transitioned to a newly defined contract role as CBF endorser, working specifically with chaplains and pastoral counselors who seek formal endorsement through CBF. Charlie Reynolds continues to work in a contract role as associate endorser for military chaplaincy.
The other six positions eliminated came from across CBF operations, congregational ministries, and Global Mission staff, but did not include Global Missions field personnel, Baxley said.
CBF’s missionary force, which was reduced last year through the retirement incentive, now stands at 31, he said, and funding through the CBF Offering for Global Missions is within range of supporting that effort and is stable.
The need for this mid-year adjustment is not because churches are leaving CBF but because churches across the Fellowship are experiencing economic strains themselves, he said.
“We’ve been aware for five or six years that the most urgent need congregations of every size, theological type, worship style and location have reported is a growing financial strain. This includes escalating personnel costs, deferred maintenance on facilities that are aging, giving patterns, changing congregational patterns.”
Churches nationwide are facing “economic instability and volatility,” he reported.
While a few congregations have left affiliation with CBF in the past year, that number is much smaller than in some previous times, Baxley said.
“We can’t expect our experience to be that much different from our congregations.”
The reality is that church finances are tight, “and we can’t expect our experience to be that much different from our congregations,” he noted.
One of the goals of the staff realignment is to find ever-greater efficiencies in operations, he said. And another goal is to strengthen additional sources of funding.
Throughout its 35-year history, CBF has supplemented giving through churches with grants and individual contributions. Those additional sources of income remain a priority as CBF seeks to hire a full-time development officer. That job description is focused on individual donors and new kinds of grant revenue streams.
Two years ago, CBF staff moved into smaller office space in the same building it had occupied for years in Decatur, Ga. That space is appropriate for current needs and is not up for renegotiation for several years. Even though an increasing number of CBF staff work remotely across the country, the headquarters space will remain as is for now.
With several staff reductions under its belt now, some observers wonder if the trendline for CBF will continue to run downward.
Baxley acknowledged the fate of all Christian denominational bodies in America is in question: “I don’t have any confidence about the future of top-down, authoritarian, institutionally driven denominations. But I believe in all the change and challenge, there is still a need for congregations to be involved in a community larger than themselves. I believe there’s still a power to the work of inviting people to be in relationship with other congregations and with other individuals around the nation and around the world.”
Denominational communities focused on relationships and serving and learning are needed more than ever, he said. “And I believe God’s calling us to be one of those denominations, one of those denominational communities. And that’s why I keep saying yes.”
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