RICHMOND — A proposed budget for Baptist General Association of Virginia ministries in 2013 was significantly revised Oct. 18, increasing allocations for several BGAV partner agencies and altering one of its giving tracks to accommodate the changes.
The overall budget goal of $12.1 million remains unchanged from the original proposal, officially unveiled Oct. 9 by the BGAV budget committee. But increases are allocated to Bluefield College, the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond and the John Leland Center for Theological Studies.
The revised proposal honors missional priorities while increasing funds for Virginia partners, said committee chair David Washburn.
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The BGAV will consider the revised proposal at its annual meeting, Nov. 13-14 in Roanoke.
The original proposal, which reduced allocations to most partner agencies while increasing funds for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, had 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 Mission Board, which had received an increase of about 6.5 percent. Reductions for other agencies ranged from almost 3 percent to more than 77 percent.
Both views were forcefully expressed at the Mission Board’s fall meeting Oct. 9-10. Though the board does not approve the BGAV budget — which the budget committee recommends directly to the BGAV at its annual meeting every November — it has bylaw authority to offer “information and counsel.” Typically the budget committee reconvenes at least once following the board’s fall meeting to consider — and often adopt — those suggestions before offering the final document to the BGAV.
At its Oct. 18 meeting, the committee “affirmed several changes to the BGAV budget that were discussed during the [Mission Board’s] meeting,” according a statement released late the following afternoon by committee members.
“The revised budget maintains full funding for our missional priorities of evangelism, discipleship and church planting, increases funding to Virginia partners and upholds a realistic overall budget of $12.1 million,” budget committee chair David Washburn said in the statement.
In a separate letter to directors of the Mission Board released the same day, Washburn said his committee “heard you clearly ask that we consider adjustments to our national and international partners so that our Virginia partners did not bear the entire weight of declining revenues.”
Those adjustments include $90,000 to Bluefield College, up from $41,000 in the original proposal; $93,656 to the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies, up from $50,000; and $35,000 to the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, up from $25,000. All three entities are placed in a portion of the budget which receives support from most contributing BGAV congregations.
To achieve the increases, reductions are made in allocations to both the Mission Board and Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia — at their request, according to the budget committee. WMUV’s allocation drops from $406,000 to $395,000. Mission Board reductions come from $23,943 originally allocated to the board’s support services team and another $17,078 from funding for Eagle Baptist Conference Center.
“I would like to thank WMUV and VBMB support services for suggesting that their funding be reduced in order to assist other partners,” said Washburn.
Washburn said Eagle Eyrie’s reduction was lessened when the Religious Herald declined a recommended increase of $12,287. Herald editor Jim White had strongly endorsed increasing funds for partners but had maintained the news organization would “not ask for anything additional,” since he “did not want what I say or write on this topic to be construed as an attempt to restore our funding.” Those funds are applied to Eagle Eyrie.
BTSR and Leland each receive about $112,000 in the revised budget, up from about $67,000 for BTSR and about $50,000 for Leland. Funds for both are now channeled through the world mission causes section of the World Mission 2 giving track, one of four financial options available to churches in the budget. That’s a change for Leland, which has been in the “Virginia Baptist partners” section of the budget since its founding in 1998.
Funds in the WM2 track — selected by almost 30 percent of BGAV churches — are allocated on a percentage basis, not by dollar amounts. If the 2013 budget is fully funded, each percentage point in that section is expected to be about $12,100. Both theological schools will receive 9.25 percent — an increase for BTSR, which was given 5.5 percent in the earlier proposal. Because of Leland's original placement in the budget, its allocation had been a dollar amount.
To accommodate increases for the two schools, allocations are reduced to two Southern Baptist Convention causes in the WM2 track — the International Mission Board, from 17.43 percent to 13 percent, and the North American Mission Board, from 5.45 percent to 4 percent. The bulk of contributions to the SBC from BGAV churches is channeled through another giving track, WM1, which is unchanged and draws support from about 20 percent of congregations, and from a customized option which about 35 percent of churches select to craft their own giving plan. About 11 percent of congregations support the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship through the WM3 giving track.
Also reduced in the revised WM2 track are the Baptist World Alliance, from 10 percent to 8 percent, and allocations for Virginia Baptist Mission Initiatives, Missions Relief and the Ministerial Education Fund.
“I want to thank members of the budget committee for their creative and faithful approach to the budget process,” said Washburn. “I also want to personally thank the VBMB staff, specifically [executive director] John Upton and [treasurer] Eddie Stratton, as well as the WMUV leadership of Laura McDaniel and Ann Brown, for exemplifying the true spirit of partnership in helping us reallocate monies in support of our partners.”
Robert Dilday ([email protected]) is managing editor of the Religious Herald.