SOPHIA, N.C. — Although Hurricane Helene significantly impacted missions giving in 2024, N.C. Baptist officials have seen an outpouring of financial donations and support for the ongoing storm-related response efforts in western North Carolina.

Leaders of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina told members of the organization’s board of directors that the state convention had received $20 million in designated contributions for N.C. Baptist disaster response efforts.

The $20 million is on top of more than $2.9 million that came in for the North Carolina Missions Offering (NCMO) last year, which was a record total for the annual offering. The NCMO supports disaster response and other missions and ministry efforts in North Carolina and beyond.

Those figures were part of the financial report for 2024 that state convention leaders shared with the N.C. Baptist board of directors during the board’s first meeting of 2025 which was held Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 27-28, at Caraway Conference Center near Asheboro. It was also the first meeting of the full board since Hurricane Helene ravaged western North Carolina in late September of last year, leaving behind unprecedented damage, destruction and death.

The storm also significantly impacted missions giving through the Cooperative Program (CP) and special offerings for North American and international missions.

CP receipts from N.C. Baptist churches in 2024 totaled a little more than $28.1 million, which was about 4% below year-over-year giving.

Gifts to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions totaled a little more than $7 million in 2024, which was down about 4.8% from 2023. Gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions totaled more than $13.3 million in 2024, which was about 15% below 2023 totals.

Despite Helene’s financial impacts, state convention officials said they anticipate finishing 2024 in the black by approximately $50,000, based on preliminary financial data.

“It was a challenging year, particularly from September through the end of the year with all that happened with Hurricane Helene,” said John Butler, who serves as N.C. Baptists’ director of operations and chief financial officer. “The impact on our churches cannot be overstated.”

Some churches didn’t meet for weeks after the storm, and some still haven’t met since Helene struck, Butler said. Other churches redirected some CP gifts toward N.C. Baptist hurricane relief efforts.

“And that’s OK,” Butler said, “It’s a church’s decision. Churches are autonomous, and they are responding as God is leading them to meet the needs that are out there right now. They still invested in what we are doing to help us recover from Hurricane Helene.”

Based on giving patterns, Butler estimated redirected gifts from churches across the state equated to about $1.5 million in total.

The redirected funds provided a significant boost to the North Carolina Missions Offering, which took in more than $2.9 million in 2024. That total surpassed the previous record of more than $2.3 million that was set just one year ago in 2023 by nearly 27% or more than $624,000. The $2.9 million also eclipsed the offering’s 2024 goal of $2.6 million by more than $300,000.

“When you look at all the dollars that came in, it was still an incredible year for us,” said Todd Unzicker, N.C. Baptists’ executive director-treasurer. “What N.C. Baptists have done has been nothing short of incredible.”

N.C. Baptist officials said they are hoping — and praying — for a bounce-back year in 2025.

“Based on previous years when we’ve had a major disaster like this, CP usually bounces back the next year,” Butler said. “We’re very hopeful and prayerful that it will happen again. But we know that God will take care of us and meet our needs no matter what happens.”

Helene response updates

In other reports, board members heard how the funds earmarked for Hurricane Helene relief are being used.

Disaster response is one of 19 different ministries of N.C. Baptists on Mission, an auxiliary of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Officials with Baptists on Mission provided the board with an update on the ongoing response efforts.

In the initial days, weeks and months following Helene, volunteers with Baptists on Mission provided hot meals, showers and laundry services while also clearing debris, tarping roofs, and mudding and tearing out homes throughout western North Carolina. At the height of the initial response, Baptists on Mission was operating 16 recovery sites throughout the region.

From late September after Helene hit to the end of December of last year, more than 13,000 volunteers served with Baptists on Mission in western North Carolina, completing more than 5,000 jobs, preparing more than 493,000 meals and making 3,700 chaplaincy contacts. Volunteers also reported 31 professions of faith.

Baptists on Mission’s work has now transitioned into the rebuild phase in which volunteers are helping those whose homes were severely damaged or destroyed in the storm. Officials have established seven rebuild centers across western North Carolina that will serve as bases of operations for logistics and volunteers over the next few years. Baptists on Mission leaders anticipate the rebuild phase to last from four to six years.

“We keep saying this is going to be a marathon,” said Tim Etheridge, president of Baptists on Mission. “We’re in it for the long haul. It’s not like a sprint.”

Updates about the ongoing work by N.C. Baptists taking place in western North Carolina and information about opportunities to serve or contribute to the efforts are available online at www.helenerebuild.org.

New BCH CEO greets board

Unzicker introduced David Melber, the new CEO of the Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH) of North Carolina who began serving on Jan. 2, to N.C. Baptist board members for the first time.

With his wife Tera at his side, Melber briefly shared how God had orchestrated the events of their lives to lead them to this new role, saying they want to be “a voice for the forgotten” and a “voice that wants to tell others about Jesus.”

Melber said he wants BCH to be known as an organization that is gospel-centered and serves the local church as he stewards the ministry.

“We could not be more excited to be in this state, seeing a movement of churches on mission together for the sake of the gospel,” Melber said.

At the conclusion of Melber’s remarks, Unzicker invited Amy Pardue Boone, executive director-treasurer of the Woman’s Missionary Union of North Carolina, to pray over the Melbers. 

Property transaction

The board approved a motion by the Operations Special Committee that would allow a small section of a piece of property recently acquired by Baptists on Mission for a rebuild center in western North Carolina to be sold to an adjacent property owner because of an awning that slightly extends over the existing property line.

Elections & appointments approved

The board elected four new at-large members to the board’s Executive Committee and approved several other committee appointments.

The four board members elected as at-large members of the Executive Committee were: Jonathan Barbee; Besty Bolick; Janet Demeny; and Twinkle Poindexter.

In addition, board committees elected new chairs, who also serve on the Executive Committee. Individuals elected as committee chairs were: Justin Deeter (Christian Life & Public Affairs Committee); Jerry Lewis (Ministry Strategies Committee); Brooke Medina (Communications Committee); Jared Richard (Operations Special Committee); Aaron Swain (Convention Relations Special Committee); and Will Toburen (Mission Catalysts Committee).

The board also approved individuals nominated by the state convention’s elected officers to serve on the 2025 Committee on Nominations and the 2025 Committee on Convention Meetings, as well as the respective chairs of those committees.

Those approved to serve on the Committee on Nominations were: Mike Bailey of Southport Baptist Church; Andrew Clark of Aaran Lake Baptist Church in Fayetteville; Chris Hefner of Wilkesboro Baptist Church; and Chandler Donegan (chair).

Those approved to serve on the Committee on Convention Meetings were: Dusty Black of Marshall First Baptist Church; Josh Baker of Pea Ridge Baptist Church in East Mill Spring; Jason Ballard of Kings Mountain First Baptist Church; Chris Griggs of Welcome First Baptist Church; Art Sauer of Riley’s Creek Baptist Church in Rocky Point; Larry Stephens of Piney Grove Baptist Church in Williamston; James Weddington of Eastern Hills Baptist Church in Charlotte; and Ron Skinner (chair).

The board also approved nominations to special committees. Those individuals were: Michael Barrett of Pleasant Garden Baptist Church as an at-large, non-board member of the Articles and Bylaws Special Committee; Zeb Cook of Apex Baptist Church as a board member on the Articles and Bylaws Special Committee; Jerry Lewis of Grace Community Church in Marion as a board member of the Budget Special Committee; Dave Magan of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte as an at-large, non-board member of the Operations Special Committee; Benjamin Quinn of Holly Grove Baptist Church in Spring Hope as an at-large, non-board member of the Christian Life & Public Affairs Special Committee; and Woody Walls of Beach Road Baptist Church in Southport as an at-large, non-board member of the Operations Special Committee.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the full N.C. Baptist board of directors is scheduled for May 19-20 at the Fort Caswell Coastal Retreat Center on Oak Island.