ROANOKE — A proposed budget for Baptist General Association of Virginia ministries in 2013 which sparked wide-ranging debate for a month was adopted Nov. 14 without discussion or apparent opposition.
The BGAV approved the $12.1 million budget and elected officers for the coming year in the final session of its annual meeting, which drew about 785 messengers to Roanoke.
The budget is $300,000 less than this year’s budget goal, the third consecutive annual budget reduction. When introduced by the BGAV budget committee Oct. 9, it won praise from some for what they said was greater support for evangelism, discipleship and new church starts. Others, however, expressed dismay at what they believed suggested a diminished role for BGAV agencies other than the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.
BGAV officers for 2013 are (from left) Fred Anderson, clerk; Carl Johnson, president; Tommy McDearis, first vice president; and Kevin Meadows, second vice president.
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In response the budget committee revised the proposal on Oct. 18, increasing allocations for some agencies closer to 2012 levels.
Financial contributions from the BGAV’s 1,420 affiliated churches have declined every year for the past decade. Budget committee chair David Washburn said receipts in 2012 are predicted to reach about 97 percent of the goal.
Washburn said the 2013 budget is “rooted in reality.”
“We are all in this together,” he said. “We value all partners and agencies and institutions. The decision [to reduce some allocations] did not come easily.”
In an uncontested election, Richmond layman Carl Johnson was elected president — the first person since 1944 to hold the post twice. Johnson, a retired denominational financial officer, was president in 1987. For the past year, he had been serving as the BGAV’s first vice president.
Johnson was succeeded as first vice president by Tommy McDearis, pastor of Blacksburg (Va.) Baptist Church, who was elected 232-205 over Lee Ellison, pastor of Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Moseley, Va. Since 2000, serving BGAV first vice presidents have been nominated — and invariably elected — to serve as the state association’s president.
Also elected was Kevin Meadows, pastor of Grandin Court Baptist Church in Roanoke, as second vice president. Meadows was the only nominee for the position.
Fred Anderson, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, was elected to a 31st term as clerk.
In other action during its Wednesday session, the BGAV adopted two resolutions — one resolving to pray for leaders elected in the recent national elections and another expressing appreciation for organizers of the annual meeting. Earlier, messengers had adopted resolutions of appreciation for Ken Dibble, who will retire Dec. 31 after 24 years as a youth ministry leader for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board; campus minister Melissa Cheliras, who died Feb. 10 after a four-month battle with cancer; and Cecil McFarland, president of the Chaplain Service Prisoner Ministry of Virginia from 1995 until his death April 19.
Robert Dilday (rdilday@religiousherald.org) is managing editor of the Religious Herald.