ROCHESTER, Minn. – Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptists increased their support of national and international Southern Baptist ministries for the third consecutive year, continuing a commitment to .5 percent annual increases toward reaching 50 percent of the anticipated Cooperative Program budget.
Messengers at the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention’s annual meeting voted to give 14.5 percent of an anticipated $475,000 in 2013 Cooperative Program (CP) receipts to national and international missions, after having given 14 percent this year. The convention plans to keep 85.5 percent of CP gifts for ministry in its two member states. The allocations do not include any expenses shared by the state and national conventions.
Concurrently, the overall $1,973,321 budget approved by messengers for 2013 is about half of a percentage point above its 2012 budget of $1,962,879.
Current officers re-elected to serve an additional term are president, Mike Fahey, pastor emeritus of Roseville Baptist Church in Roseville, Minn.; first vice president, Rich Schulze, pastor of Graceway Fellowship in Green Bay, Wis.; second vice president, Mary Krome of Brown Deer Baptist Church in Brown Deer, Wis.; and recording secretary, Wes Shemwell of Midvale Baptist Church in Madison, Wis.
A total of 85 messengers representing 41 of the two-state convention’s 166 affiliated churches attended the annual meeting at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Rochester, Minn., with the theme “Every City, Every Place.” The state convention has 16,500 members.
Messengers set the 2013 annual meeting for Oct. 25-26 at Trinity Baptist Church in Reedsburg, Wis.
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Compiled from a report by the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention.)