By Bob Allen
The board of the nation’s oldest continuously published religious newspaper has disbanded, and the 193-year-old Christian Index will come under the umbrella of the Georgia Baptist Convention, as part of a massive restructuring of the 3,600-church affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Other changes announced Sept. 15 include moving away from a centralized staff toward a field-based strategy aimed at moving services closer to an estimated 1.3 million people in the pews of Georgia Baptist churches.
The reduced need for office space could open the door for sale of the convention’s current headquarters building, built in 2006 and debt-free thanks to a $25 million gift in March from the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation.
Executive Director Robert White said the Baptist Missions and Ministry Center, which sits on a 43-acre tract on Sugarloaf Parkway in the heart of Gwinnett County, could be sold for a premium in a location that is seeing a steady rise in property values. The property cost Georgia Baptists a total of $42 million — $23 million for the building, $10 million for the land and $9 million for technological innovations.
The Georgia Baptist Convention first voted in 2001 to relocate from its Flowers Road location adjacent to Mercer University that later became headquarters for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The CBF vacated the address in 2013 to move to downtown Decatur, Ga.
The Georgia Baptist Convention executive committee explored sale of the headquarters three years ago, citing staff reductions due to budget cutbacks.
In the new structure, the Christian Index will work more closely with writers, graphic designers, photography and social media experts in the existing communications department. Cross-training is already underway, according to the Christian Index. The formerly autonomous newspaper will function as a ministry area similar to other departments.
The move follows a recent announcement that beginning next year the Christian Index will cease printing and move primarily to an online delivery platform.
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