NAMB relationship with BGCT appears murky

A spokesperson for the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board asserted “nothing has changed, and nothing is new” regarding its policy to grant church-starting funds only to state conventions that have affirmed the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.

However, the Baptist General Convention of Texas—which never endorsed the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message—received $300,000 annually for at least each of the last four years, with $200,000 per year earmarked for evangelism and $100,000 each year designated for church starting.

Ward Hayes, BGCT treasurer and chief financial officer, said, “NAMB has told us that these funds have no restrictions beyond those designations; however, we have only utilized the church-starting funds in support of Texas Baptist church sponsors that have adopted the 2000 BF&M.”

But on May 20, Executive Director Julio Guarneri reported to the BGCT Executive Board: “I have learned that NAMB will no longer fund any church starts of singly aligned BGCT churches in Texas. They will only fund churches in Texas who are affiliated with SBTC [the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention], either singly or dually.”

Guarneri noted BGCT-affiliated churches contributed $3.3 million to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions and $2.2 million to NAMB through the Cooperative Program.

Regarding the relationship between the BGCT and NAMB, the NAMB spokesman stated: “NAMB has a long-standing policy of only planting churches in partnership with state conventions that have affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message BFM 2000. NAMB has enjoyed a good relationship with BGCT for many years. Nothing has changed, and nothing is new about our policy.”

The agency spokesperson did not respond to an email request to clarify the seeming discrepancy between NAMB’s “long-standing policy” and its practice.

He did express appreciation for the financial support of BGCT churches, stating: “NAMB is grateful for what BGCT churches give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and to the Cooperative Program. This is a way BGCT churches can impact the North American mission field beyond Texas. These funds are used to plant churches where they are most needed, fund compassion ministry efforts and to equip missionaries and churches with evangelism resources.”

Flat grants and Send Network agreements

Currently, NAMB provides church-starting funds to state conventions both through a flat grant and through Send Network agreements.

“In order to move more funding to regions outside the South, NAMB reduced funding to South state conventions in 2013 and began providing an annual $300,000 grant,” the NAMB spokesperson stated in an email to the Baptist Standard.

“Several South state conventions still receive funding through this model today. The funding can be used for evangelism, church revitalization and church planting.”

As a point of comparison, the adopted 2013 BGCT budget endorsed by the BGCT Executive Board and approved by messengers to the annual meeting anticipated $600,442 in funds from NAMB.

“NAMB has a long-standing policy, though, of only planting churches in partnership with state conventions that have affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. So, that restriction applies to our partnership with the Baptist General Convention of Texas,” the NAMB spokesperson stated.

From 2021 through 2024, the BGCT helped start 128 churches at a cost of $4.18 million—a bit more than $32,600 per church.

“We have used the $300,000—$100,000 per year over three years—from NAMB within the overall $4,180,090.92, which is the support for about nine churches,” said Tom Howe, associate director of Texas Baptists’ Center for Missional Engagement and director of church starting.

“All are singly aligned with BGCT. They are also SBC, but we do not plant SBTC churches or churches that are dually aligned with SBTC.”

NAMB partners with a reported 47,600 churches in its Send Network.

“Some South state conventions have asked NAMB to become more involved in church planting in their states, and this led to the development of Send Network church planting agreements,” the NAMB spokesperson stated. “Each of these agreements is customized to meet the specific needs of each state convention.”

Does NAMB count all BGCT church starts?

Last December, NAMB reported it had surpassed the 10,000 mark in terms of church planting since 2010, with 639 launched in 2022.

“Churches plant churches, and to help Southern Baptists have an accurate measure of their impact, NAMB tabulates the number of churches Southern Baptists plant every year,” the NAMB spokesperson said.

However, NAMB did not respond to a question about how many church starts in Texas it includes in its count—or a breakdown of how many are in partnership with the BGCT and how many are with the SBTC.

“NAMB does not release state-specific church plant information. We refer inquiries back to the particular state convention,” the agency spokesperson said.

“While we do not share financial information about our Send Network church planting agreements with specific states, the funding amount varies from year-to-year based on how many churches a state convention is involved with planting and how each of those plants assess on our Planting Projector, which helps determine the annual funding a NAMB-endorsed plant receives.”

He also noted: “NAMB can partner with a BGCT church to plant a church outside of Texas in collaboration with a state convention that affirms the BFM 2000. All NAMB-endorsed church planters must affirm BFM 2000.”