ATLANTA (ABP) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's contribution to the Baptist World Alliance will increase from $20,000 to $40,000 next year if participants at the CBF general assembly adopt the $16 million budget approved by the CBF Coordinating Council Feb. 20.
The additional funds would make a slight dent in an anticipated funding gap for the BWA. Southern Baptist Convention messengers in June are expected to cut the final $300,000 in SBC funding for the worldwide fellowship of Baptists. The CBF's election to membership in BWA last year is considered a primary reason for the SBC's planned defunding and withdrawal from BWA.
In addition, a special offering received at the June 24-26 CBF general assembly will be given to the BWA, the council decided.
The council recommended that African-American pastor Emmanuel McCall of Atlanta join CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal as the CBF's representatives to the BWA.
“Our acceptance into the BWA wasn't in our strategic plan,” Vestal told the council. “But it seemed to be the right thing to do.”
CBF moderator-elect Bob Setzer of Macon, Ga., is studying how CBF can relate most effectively to BWA, said Vestal. He also announced that BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz will host a breakfast and a breakout session during the upcoming CBF general assembly in Birmingham, Ala.
The proposed 2004-05 budget of $16,008,123 is equal to the Fellowship's modified spending plan in place for 2003-04. The staff and CBF council reduced the current budget because of a shortfall last year.
Finance committee member Nelson Rodriguez of Fort Worth, Texas, said revenues for the current year are expected to come in at $348,000 under the revised plan. He described the proposed 2004-2005 budget as “conservative.”
Jim Strawn, CBF coordinator for finance, said an additional $3.7 million dollars in designated funds will be spent during the next budget year as well, bringing total expenditures for 2004-2005 to nearly $20 million.
In addition to doubling the funds to BWA, the 2004-2005 budget calls for creating the position of associate coordinator in faith formation, increases of $150,000 for staff medical insurance, $100,000 for worker's compensation insurance, and $100,000 in across-the-board salary upgrades — 2 percent for professional staff, 3 percent for support staff.
The council also revised the position vacated when Reba Cobb resigned as resource center coordinator last year. The council approved a new job title –coordinator of administration — and a job description that removes some supervisory responsibilities.
The new job description calls for “overseeing the daily operations of the staff” and providing “direct supervision of administrative operations.” Coordinators that do not specifically relate to administrative services will report directly to Vestal.
Personnel committee chair Elizabeth Barnes of Raleigh, N.C., described the position as “first among equals,” in that the new staff person would represent CBF in the absence of Vestal. Barnes chairs the search committee for the position.
The proposed budget contains some additional changes from the current one, such as another reduction of funds for partner organizations — including Associated Baptist Press, Baptist Center for Ethics, Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, Baptists Today newsjournal and about a dozen institutions for theological education.
Missouri layman Charles Cantrell, chair of an ad hoc committee studying relations with those partners, reported the committee's early work has been significant but “hard to quantify.” The committee has tried to define the broad use of the term “partner” in CBF life, he said.
The ad hoc committee held its third meeting in conjunction with the Feb. 19-20 council meeting and interviewed representatives of four partner organizations. The committee was created last June by the coordinating council, which proposed a 20 percent reduction in funding for CBF partners.
“To say how many people partner with CBF is unlimited,” Cantrell reported. “But that's not bad.” Cantrell said the committee is categorizing the various types of CBF partnerships. He expressed hope that the committee's work would be near completion by the end of the year, with formal reports to come in 2005.
The council also heard and affirmed a proposal to collaborate with state and regional CBF groups to increase support for the CBF Offering for Global Missions.
The plan uses the 2002-03 offering receipts as a numerical baseline. States or regions showing an increase over 2003-03 receipts would be entitled to use 10 percent of the increased amount to fund approved mission endeavors conducted by that state or regional CBF body.
Frank Broome, coordinator of CBF of Georgia, described the Missions Collaborative Initiative as a “great idea” that gives state organizations an incentive for promoting the Offering for Global Missions over creating additional state-focused offerings.
The council also approved a recommendation to pursue participation in a new ecumenical effort called Christian Churches Together. John Finley, pastor of First Baptist Church of Savannah, Ga., and a member of the CBF ecumenical task force, said initial dues of $1,000, increasing to $10,000 the following year, would likely be expected of participating groups.
Vestal, who participated in a related meeting in Texas earlier this year, called Christian Churches Together a “noble” and “most ambitious ecumenical effort.” The group includes evangelical denominations that have been reluctant to participate in the National Council of Churches.
The council affirmed efforts to continue discussions with leaders of the American Baptist Churches, USA, for an overlapping meeting in 2007 in Washington, D.C.
-30-