BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — Woman's Missionary Union has announced budget cutbacks affecting the nearly 100 employees of the Southern Baptist Convention women's auxiliary, founded in 1888.
After consulting with the WMU Executive Board's finance and personnel committees Dec. 8, WMU Executive Director Wanda Lee informed employees Dec. 10 of budget cuts totaling $1.4 million. To avoid layoffs, cuts were made across the board. They include placing each staff member on a four-week unpaid furlough between January and August of 2009.
Lee said preserving jobs and maintaining affordable healthcare were top priorities in the decisions, made necessary by an economic crisis some analysts expect to be the worst since the Great Depression.
"None of the positions that we have are expendable," Lee said. "We already have a lean staff and need all the staff members we have to accomplish the work we do."
Other streamlining measures include a hiring freeze on all vacant positions, a freeze on merit raises and reducing employer contributions to each employee's retirement plan until Sept. 30.
"These were very difficult decisions to make and difficult ones for our staff to hear, but all indications are that the economic picture for our nation will worsen in 2009 before it improves," Lee said.
The revised 2009 budget is $9.6 million. WMU receives no funds from the SBC's Cooperative Program unified budget. It also receives no allocations from two annual SBC mission offerings WMU promotes. The organization supports itself through sales of magazines and other products as well as investments.
Assets held in a WMU Foundation established in 1995 recently surpassed $20 million, but most of those funds are earmarked for scholarships or other designated causes.
Lee said the cuts were designed to avoid a worst-case economic scenario while putting WMU in a position to continue its mission of encouraging personal involvement in missions and minstry.
"While our nation is experiencing some of the most challenging economic times in our history, we recognize jobs are scarce and we are doing everything we can do to protect jobs and ensure the future of WMU," Lee said. "We are simply taking proactive measures to successfully navigate these uncertain days in our nation's challenging economic climate in the event that it doesn't recover quickly."
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.