LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — After
eight months of discussions, the Kentucky Great Commission Task Force is
recommending the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Mission Board move to a
reallocation of Cooperative Program funds that results in a 50 percent split of
CP receipts (after shared administrative expenses) between the KBC and the
Southern Baptist Convention by 2017-18.
The report, which will be
voted on by KBC messengers at the annual meeting Nov. 16, calls for a dramatic
8.7 percentage point shift in the first year of implementation, if messengers
approve the recommendation.
The Kentucky Baptist budget
that started Sept. 1 is divides CP receipts from churches 62 percent for
Kentucky ministries and 38 percent for national and international ministries of
the Southern Baptist Convention. The task force, chaired by Hershael York,
calls for the KBC to move to a 53.28/46.72 percentage allocation between the
KBC and SBC, respectively, for the 2011-12 CP budget.
“That’s a pretty radical cut
in the first year,” acknowledged York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in
Frankfort and an associate dean and professor of Christian preaching at
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.
To accomplish that move, the
KBC and all of its partnering entities would be required to reduce their
budgets by at least 6 percent starting with the 2011-12 fiscal year.
According to the task force’s
report, there would be a KBC Mission Board staff reduction of 12 percent and a
total Mission Board budget reduction of 9.85 percent.
KBC institutions,
Campbellsville University and University of the Cumberlands would absorb an
additional 7 percent budget cut.
The task force also
recommends eliminating the convention’s annuity contributions for pastors and church
staff members — a $400,000 reduction. York said the task force did not,
however, opt to call for elimination of the $400,000 contribution that goes for
ministers’ protection, disability and term life insurance.
The report states that to
achieve a 50/50 allocation split by 2017-18, the Mission Board would make
incremental adjustments in years two through seven of the plan.
According to the CP
Distribution Plan document released with the report in mid-August, the CP
allocation at the end of the seven years essentially would be a 48/48 percent
split between the KBC and SBC, while factoring in 4 percent of shared expenses —
money used by the KBC that simultaneously benefits the state and national
convention.
The Baptist State Convention
of North Carolina makes no such allowance for “shared expenses” and divides
every dollar with the SBC according to the percentage allocation approved
annually by messengers. North Carolina messengers will consider in
November a sixth consecutive one-half percentage point increase to the SBC,
which would make the NC/SBC split 65-35.
The task force also seeks to
increase the size of the Cooperative Program pie by establishing a goal to
increase Kentucky Baptists’ overall CP receipts by at least 3 percent per year
through 2017-18.
The task force calls on all
KBC churches to increase their CP giving by 0.25 percent of their undesignated
receipts each year for the next seven years.
“We feel it’s wrong for us
to merely vote to change the allocation and then not challenge our churches to
give more” to the Cooperative Program, York said.
If all churches were to
accept the challenge, the report states, “the results for missions would be
staggering.”