DALLAS (ABP) — Several Southern Baptist Convention entities are tightening the belt in response to budget shortfalls in a flagging economy.
GuideStone Financial Resources said Jan. 27 it just implemented a hiring freeze and is giving no raises to employees, with a goal of reducing its workforce by about 10 percent through attrition.
“The downturn in the global economy and the subsequent reduced value of securities in our investment funds has impacted the fee revenue that funds our budget,” GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins said in an internal memo to employees.
On Jan. 28 the SBC International Mission Board drew $7 million from reserve funds to account for a declining dollar and higher costs overseas. Board treasurer David Steverson called it a “larger-than-usual” amount.
Those cutbacks come on the heels of similar actions by other SBC entities.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., took steps to deal with a $3 million budget shortfall, reducing its administrative staff by 35 workers effective Jan. 30.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, announced plans to cut its budget by up to $4 million to avert a “financial crisis.” Cuts included closing a childcare center and isolated layoffs.
Facing a $1 million revenue shortfall, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary announced an “austerity budget” Jan. 19 including temporary salary reductions but avoiding employee layoffs.
In December Woman’s Missionary Union, an auxiliary to the SBC, announced cutbacks including unpaid furloughs for all workers in budget cuts totaling $1.4 million.
On Jan. 8, the SBC’s North American Mission Board asked team leaders to operate at 90 percent of their approved budgets in 2009.
As of Dec. 31, year-to-date giving to the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s unified budget, was about 5 percent behind the previous year’s pace.
But SBC entities also rely on investments for income, and those funds have been hit hard by the recession. That particularly affects GuideStone, the convention’s provider of retirement and health-care programs for church and denominational employees. The agency also provides financial assistance for ministers in need — a program that relies on investments for most of its operating income.
As of Dec. 31, GuideStone managed assets totaling $9.9 billion with an annual operating budget of $63 million, according to the SBC annual.
Hawkins said further cuts may be necessary if the market continues to decline.
“While we are hopeful about the future, further deterioration in the financial markets or a significantly prolonged recovery from the current recession may require other measures to further reduce future costs,” he said. “Continued monitoring of the budget and additional strategic planning is a priority as we move through 2009 and into 2010 with all of its financial uncertainties.”
In November the IMB cut back on administrative costs, such as limiting travel and not adjusting salaries. But the agency so far has avoided reducing its 5,300-member missionary force, which includes several thousand career missionaries.
“I believe we need to buckle our seatbelts and get ready for another challenging year in 2009,” board treasurer Steverson said in a news release from the most recent trustee meeting. “While I believe the worst of the stock market decline is behind us, we now have to deal with all the fallout of that decline.”
The total IMB budget before the cuts was $315 million, to be funded by $102 million through the Cooperative Program, $170 million from the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, $24 million in investment income, $8 million designated for hunger and relief and $10 million in field-generated and other income.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.
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