Virginia Baptists adopted a $14.2 million budget to fund their ministries in 2007—a $100,000 increase over the current year's budget goal. The 1,053 messengers meeting in Virginia Beach also elected officers for the coming year, adopted four resolutions and commissioned the first group of Venturers, a new Virginia Baptist mission service program.
The new budget will go into effect Jan. 1, following action taken by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's executive committee to make the BGAV's fiscal year coincide with the calendar year. Previously, the fiscal year was Dec. 1-Nov. 30. Contributions received this December will be applied to the 2006 budget, essentially giving the 2006 fiscal year 13 months.
Messengers modified three allocations in the budget proposal presented by the BGAV budget committee. Bluefield College will receive $307,000 next year, up from the $142,000 recommended by the committee. The additional funding will come from cuts to Fork Union Military Academy, which was reduced by $100,000 to $10,000, and Hargrave Military Academy, reduced by $65,000 to $10,000.
Bluefield's proposed reduction was due to a policy decision enacted by this year's budget committee—that any entity receiving 5 percent or less of its budget from the BGAV may not receive a BGAV allocation of more than 1 percent of the BGAV's budget. That policy impacted not only Bluefield, but also Virginia Intermont College, Virginia Baptist Homes and Virginia Baptist Children's Home and Family Services.
But Shelton Miles of Nathalie, who offered the Bluefield amendment, said that his recommendation should “prevail because of the relative needs of our partners and the proper alignment of our strategic priorities.”
“All our partners are equally loved but their needs are not equal,” said Miles, pastor of First Baptist Church of Republican Grove in Nathalie. “Fork Union is a financially mature institution. They know how to raise money and they're good at it. Hargrave has an operational surplus. But Bluefield has an operational deficit.
“All three institutions are our children,” Miles continued. “But Hargrave and Fork Union are our adult children. Bluefield still needs our financial support, and none of our educational partners have more fully embraced Kingdom Advance [the BGAV's overall mission thrust] than Bluefield.”
But Bill Vakos Jr. of Spotsylvania, chairman of Fork Union's board of trustees, said his school's program “fits well with Kingdom Advance.”
“FUMA, like the other military schools, has a long affiliation with the BGAV,” said Vakos. “We enjoy that relationship, we are a Baptist school, we do the Lord's work.”
Vakos noted that the budget approval process is a “fairly long and thorough process involving an evaluation of needs and purposes. That process was done in an appropriate way. … It might be better to take this proposal back to a committee for reconsideration next year.”
Jim Baucom of Falls Church reminded messengers that the BGAV has ended its ties to the University of Richmond and Averett College.
“If we want to be in the education business, Bluefield is our best chance,” said Baucom, pastor of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church. “The budget committee did a good job but they didn't want to hurt feelings and so they created a formula to apply equally. That formula has failed for Bluefield. We need to make a missional decision [by supporting the amendment].”
The amendment drew considerable opposition from messengers on a voice vote but outgoing president Bert Browning, who presided during the budget discussion, ruled it has passed. The amended budget was adopted with little dissent.
The 2007 budget will fund increases for several line items, including the Virginia Baptist Mission Board ($6,589,078, up from $6,274,072), Oak Hill Academy ($110,000, up from $100,000), John Leland Center for Theological Studies ($165,000, up from $140,000) the Religious Herald ($320,000, up from $300,000) and the Virginia Baptist Historical Society ($56,500, up from $49,948).
Also increased is an allocation for retirement support ($381,000, up from $311,000), which provides funds for the Mission Board to match BGAV churches' retirement contributions for its ministerial staff. GuideStone Financial Resources—the pension provider for most BGAV churches—has funded that matching donation in the past. However, it has announced that it will no longer do so after 2008, and state Baptist conventions will either provide it themselves or ask churches to cover all or part of it. The BGAV has chosen to pick up the matching amount.
A new item in the proposed budget (at $45,282) will fund stewardship education, a task assigned to the Mission Board. Budget committee chair Timothy Madison said committee members felt strongly that stewardship education is essential to increasing financial contributions from churches.
Several items in the budget will receive reduced allocations, in part due to the budget committee's forumula. Apart from Bluefield, entities impacted by the decision—each of which will receive $142,000—include Virginia Intermont College (down from $200,000), Virginia Baptist Children's Home and Family Services (down from $254,923) and Virginia Baptist Homes (down from $254,923).
Other entities receiving reduced allocations are the Virginia Baptist Foundation ($100,000, down from $117,494) and the Baptist Extension Board ($10,000, down from $16,000).
The Children's Home of Virginia Baptists will receive no funding in the proposed budget. The agency has been struggling for several years with licensing issues and was retained in last year's budget at $5,000, which leaders said was to “hold its place” in the event the issues were resolved. Earlier this year the Mission Board learned they had not been and it elected to eliminate funding for the homes.
As in previous years, the budget offers three pre-set tracks for international and national mission gifts and permits churches to craft their own plans. The World Mission 1 track sends 34 percent of its total to Southern Baptist Convention causes; WM 2 sends 28 percent to a variety of SBC, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and other causes; and WM 3 sends 28 percent to the CBF.
New BGAV officers for 2007 are Boyce Brannock, president; Joe Lewis, first vice president; Steve Pollard, second vice president; and Fred Anderson, clerk. (See separate story on this web site.)
Four resolutions were adopted with almost no opposition. In addition to the traditional expression of appreciation to the host city and meeting organizers, the resolutions plead for intervention in the conflict in Sudan, ask Virginia Baptists to be good stewards of the environment and offer thanks for the recent renovation of Cedar Crest Hotel at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center. (The text of the resolutions can be found on this web site.)
The new Venturers program offers opportunities for persons 18 years of age and older to serve in mission settings around the nation and the world for six months to two years.
“We have received requests for long-term volunteer assistance [from our mission partners],” said Jerry Jones, team leader of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board's glocal missions and evangelism team, which oversees Venturers in conjunction with Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia. “We have heard and have taken their requests seriously. In the past few years, we have heard Virginia Baptists asking if there are opportunities for longer-term service. Thus, Venturers has been born in response to these requests.”
Terry Raines, coordinator of Venturers, introduced the first to be commissioned—Shelly Webb, serving in campus ministry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Paul Williams, serving as campus ministry intern at James Madison University; Megan Redd, serving in campus ministry at Cornell University; and five people serving in the Philippines, who were represented by their pastor, Dan Carlton of Ruckersville.
“As you go, baptize, make disciples and love all the nations gathered in your locations in the name of Jesus Christ and the deep love of Virginia Baptists,” said John Upton in commissioning the Venturers. “May all your service and all your character honor our Lord and this body as you go. Give this the passion of your life, give it your best thinking, give it your best fun, give it your best heart.”
In other business, messengers:
• Approved a constitutional amendment that stipulates no person employed by an agency that receives funds from the BGAV, and no spouse or dependent children of that person, may serve as a member of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.
• Approved a slate of nominees from the committee on boards and committees to serve as trustees and members of the BGAV's institutions, agencies and committees.
• Heard sermons from Leith Anderson, senior pastor of Wooddale Church near Minneapolis, Minn., and James Flamming, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Richmond.