ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (ABP) — Messengers to the 92nd annual meeting of the Baptist Convention of New Mexico adopted a record budget, gave their retiring executive emeritus status, and adopted two resolutions addressing public affairs when they met in Alamogordo Oct. 26-27.
The convention, hosted by First Baptist Church, registered 321 messengers from 118 churches. The BCNM's 312 churches and 34 missions have approximately 65,000 resident members.
Messengers unanimously approved naming Executive Director Claude Cone as one of the convention's executive director emeriti when he retires from the post he has held for the past two decades. Cone was given repeated standing ovations throughout the convention in which he was given a larger-than-usual role. In addition to presenting his annual executive director message, he was asked to lead Bible studies in three of the sessions.
No successor has been named.
In business sessions, messengers approved a record budget for 2005 — the largest in the convention's history at $3,663,239 — with 30.5 percent going to the Southern Baptist Convention and 69.5 being kept for work in New Mexico. The 2005 budget represents a 2.73 percent increase over 2004 and contains a 3 percent raise in salaries for convention employees.
Messengers also approved two resolutions addressing issues related to public affairs. One resolution encouraged all citizens to “follow the teaching of the Scriptures” regarding respect for government and being obedient to the laws of the land.
The other resolution asked New Mexico Baptists to pray for the “the destruction of our enemy and the establishment of peaceful and mutually beneficial relations between nations and peoples of the earth”; “to support every form of legitimate medical research that honors and respects all human life and leads to the preventing and curing of disease, recovering from injury and impairment, and for the improvement and extension of the life and well-being of all persons”; and “to pray for divine leadership as they cast their ballots” Nov. 2.
During the convention's final session, Southern Baptist Convention President Bobby Welch encouraged the state's Baptists to embrace his challenge to baptize a million new converts nationwide from June 2005 to June 2006.
“We must hear the call of these people who are so desperately searching,” said Welch, who is pastor of First Baptist Church, Daytona Beach, Fla. “Southern Baptists are going to do better than we've been doing,” he declared. “We've got to.”
Elected as new officers of the convention were Jay McCollum, pastor of First Baptist Church, Gallup, president; Randy Aly, pastor of First Baptist Church, Chama, first vice president; and Brian Sundheimer, associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Alamogordo, second vice president. The men were the only nominees for their respective positions.
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