BGCT Executive Board approves $47.38 million budget recommendation_100404

Posted: 10/01/04

BGCT Executive Board approves
$47.38 million budget recommendation

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS–The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board voted to recommend to the convention's annual meeting a $47.38 million budget for 2005.

At its Sept. 28 meeting, the board approved the BGCT Administrative Committee's budget recommendation–a 3 percent increase over the 2004 budget.

Final budget approval rests with messengers to the BGCT annual session in San Antonio, Nov. 8-9.

Of the $47,380,959 proposed budget, $40.5 million would depend on the Cooperative Program giving of Texas Baptist churches.

Much of the remainder would come from gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, endowment income, allocated funds and fees.

The budget includes a 4 percent average merit raise for BGCT Executive Board staff in 2005, Administrative Committee Chairman Bob Fowler noted. The 2004 budget contained no salary increases.

More than half of the budget–$23.3 million–is earmarked for universities, Baptist Student Ministries, theological education and human care institutions such as child and family ministries, homes for the aging and health care systems.

The area that would receive the largest proposed increase over the 2004 budget–$511,736–is church missions and evangelism at $7 million, with the bulk of the increase in new-church development.

The proposed amount for the executive director's office and program areas directly answerable to him increased $423,767, thanks largely to a $250,000 line item for strategic planning and an increase of more than $50,000 in regional offices.

The recommended budget for the executive director's office–including the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, Cooperative Program services, human resources and communications–totals $3.5 million.

The recommended BGCT budget includes $4 million for financial management, $3.9 million for church health and growth, and $1.8 million for associational missions and administration.

Christian ethics and public life would receive $637,469, and Texas Baptist Men would receive $804,314 in the recommended budget.

The minister's protection plan–which provides church staff limited matching funds for insurance and retirement–would continue to receive $1.59 million.

The Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention would continue to receive about $200,000.

WorldconneX, the BGCT-related missions network, would receive $452,744, a $200,000 increase over 2004.

The Administrative Committee recommended the adopted giving plan continue to allocate 79 percent for the BGCT budget and 21 percent for worldwide causes, with each church indicating how its worldwide portion should be channeled.

The Executive Board approved the committee's recommendation about reallocating funds designated to the BGCT world missions initiatives by adding the Baptist World Alliance and eliminating the missionary transition fund.

The BGCT had created the missionary transition fund to help Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries who resigned or lost their positions because they refused to sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

The reallocation also increased percentages for WorldconneX and Texas Partnerships.

For churches that designate the worldwide portion of their budget gifts to BGCT world missions causes next year, 35 percent would go to WorldconneX, 25 percent to an ongoing missions relationship with Baptists in Mexico, 20 percent to Texas Partnerships, 15 percent to the Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention and 5 percent to the Baptist World Alliance.

In other business, the Executive Board:

Re-elected as chairman John Ogletree, pastor of First Metropolitan Baptist Church in Houston, and elected as vice chairman Jim Nelson, a layman from Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin.

Affirmed articles of incorporation for Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio, the BGCT-affiliated entity created by the sale of assets of Baptist Health System of San Antonio to Vanguard Health Systems.

Approved revised articles of incorporation for Valley Baptist Health System, allowing the hospital system to select up to 25 percent of its own trustees as permitted by the BGCT constitution, as well as updating terminology and bringing language in line with current laws.

Adopted a resolution of appreciation for Mike Waters, who is retiring after 24 years as president and chief executive officer of Hendrick Health System in Abilene.