HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — The executive committee of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention board of directors narrowly approved a budget proposal Aug. 16 that retains direct funding for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, but could also limit representation from churches that choose to give all or the majority of their national missions offering through the moderate group.
The two-year budget proposal for 2006-07 calls for an additional one percent of budget receipts to be forwarded to national bodies supported by the convention's four giving plans. Both the Southern Baptist Convention, funded by Plans A, B and D; and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, funded by Plan C, would receive one-half of one percent more in 2006, and an additional half-percent increase in 2007.
For Plan C participants and churches in other plans that designate funds away from the SBC and substitute CBF, however, the portion forwarded to the CBF would no longer count as “Cooperative Program” receipts for the purpose of determining the number of eligible messengers to the convention.
During the 2004 session, a motion to eliminate the giving plans failed by what appeared to be more than a two to one margin on a show of ballots, and a motion to get rid of Plan C was ruled out of order.
The issue of whether CBF contributions should count as Cooperative Program giving has been a major sticking point for those who oppose Plan C, Butler said, so the committee sought a compromise that would head off stronger actions in November.
“We talked with leaders at the CBF who didn't see this as a problem,” Butler said, and “we talked with leaders on the more conservative side who said this is a compromise they can live with and keep Plan C in place.”
Butler later clarified to North Carolina Baptists' newspaper, the Biblical Recorder, that he did not have such conversations personally, but the information had been relayed to him through others, including convention officials. He did not identify which leaders on either side had been contacted.
Employed and elected officers with CBF of North Carolina and national CBF said Butler had not contacted them.
Greg Mathis, pastor of Mud Creek Baptist Church near Hendersonville and a member of the budget committee, told the Recorder that he raised the idea after talking with many conservatives across the state who are bothered that money going to CBF is counted as Cooperative Program gifts — a term that historically applied only to money shared between the state conventions and the SBC. “I tried to do something that was reasonable and hopefully something acceptable to a majority of messengers, and hopefully continue with the optional budget plans,” he said.
Mathis said it was not his intention to make CBF churches feel like they are not full partners in the BSC.
“It was a way to calm the waters, to compromise and to continue to work together,” he said.
Butler told the executive committee that a preliminary study indicated that the change would not affect the number of messengers for any churches, and that it involves a relatively small amount of money, about 0.6 percent of total receipts.
“We're trying to find a way to stay together. If we can find a compromise that both sides of the table feel they can accept and go with, maybe we can move ahead and not have to deal with this every year,” he said.
Several committee members expressed appreciation for the efforts to keep the convention together, but said the change would send a signal that CBF-supporting churches are less acceptable than SBC-only churches, and not worthy of as many messengers.
Clella Lee, chair of the board's Council on Christian Higher Education and a member of the executive committee, noted the BSC had adopted the term “Cooperative Program Missions Giving” (CPMG) as a way to distinguish the North Carolina giving plans. “I thought CPMG meant we could cooperate,” she said. “It makes me very sad and disappointed that that's not what it meant.
“I feel like we have to make decisions based on principle, not based on what we think might happen,” Lee added. “We should make decisions on the principle of what we as N.C. Baptists want to say to the world.”
Brian Davis, second vice president of the BSC, likened the situation to the difference between cutting with a chain saw or with a surgeon's knife. If a motion to eliminate the giving plans was raised and passed at the annual meeting, he said, it would be like “a chainsaw massacre.”
But, “a surgeon can make a precise cut and bring healing,” he said.
The convention's acting executive director-treasurer, George Bullard, addressed the board and convention officers and asked “if this passes, do you believe the people who have said this is acceptable are advocates of it, and that they have a commitment to be proactive at convention to keep something more destructive from happening? Will you encourage them to do this?”
Board vice president JoAnn Sanderson said “yes, but you can't rule out wild cards,” because any messenger can make a motion.
The initial vote on the budget was eight in favor and seven opposed, with one abstention. The person who abstained asked to change his vote to indicate opposition, creating a tie. Butler, who normally votes only in the event of a tie, voted in favor, making the final vote nine to eight. Four committee members had left due to other commitments before the vote was held.
Larry Hovis, coordinator of CBF North Carolina, said in an interview that his organization receives no funds from any of the four plans, but “we still care very deeply about funding of CBF national ministries through the Baptist State Convention. While we're gratified that funds for CBF national will be retained and will grow by one half percent, we are concerned about the signal it sends that somehow these contributions are second class or invalid or not legitimate. In the past CBF-related churches have been considered full partners in the Baptist State Convention. We hope this doesn't signal a move toward exclusion.”
Ben McDade director of communications for the CBF national office, said only that “the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is very appreciative of the North Carolina convention extending this giving option to its churches for the ministry of the Fellowship.”
The budget will now be forwarded to the full board of directors for consideration at its Sept. 27-28 meeting. If approved by the board, the budget will come before messengers to the convention's annual meeting on Nov. 16. Messengers can then vote to approve or amend the budget.