Optional giving plan may ease pressure
By Allen Palmeri
Associate Editor
JEFFERSON CITY—The Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Board approved an alternate giving plan July 14 so Missouri Baptists can choose how to participate in the Cooperative Program (CP).
MBC Executive Director David Tolliver, who is charged with carrying out the will of the board, said the alternate giving plan will allow churches who have differing perspectives on the current lawsuits to come to the table in unity and partner together in missions through the CP.
The plan will enable a local church to bypass giving toward the payment of legal fees in the 2010 CP budget. Right now approximately $469,000 in budgeted funds next year would have been potentially allocated out of the CP stream had this alternate giving plan not been passed.
“You can say to people, if they have this question, please tell them that it is a guarantee that their money will not go to lawsuits,” Tolliver said to staffers July 16 at the Baptist Building.
Vince Blubaugh, MBC director of communications and development, amplified Tolliver’s point.
“The optional giving plan shows that the MBC is working to be fluid in providing ways for our churches to continue to support the Cooperative Program with a clear conscience,” Blubaugh said. “Regardless of how a church feels about the lawsuits, they will now have a way to support the CP and cooperate with fellow MBC churches in supporting the vital ministries and services of the Convention.”
In April, the Executive Board gave initial approval to an allocations budget that designated 3 percent of a $15.75 million total for the Agency Restoration Fund (ARF), meaning legal fees. In July, the concept became giving Missouri Baptists a choice of Plan A, which is to leave the percentage unchanged, or Plan B, which is to take the church’s gift out of ARF and distribute it to three agencies—Southwest Baptist University, Hannibal-LaGrange College, and the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home.
MBC Associate Director Jay Hughes said the Oct. 8 Executive Board Administrative Committee Meeting will be a time to determine how to get the word out to churches by means of a redesigned remittance form and other communication about the plan. If the budget is approved at the annual meeting, churches will need to vote on which giving plan for 2010 they will be using, Hughes said. The MBC would send out remittance forms in November so that the new system could be implemented Jan. 1, he said.
“Although this plan may provide some logistical challenges from an accounting perspective, I am excited that MBC churches may offer this option for our churches,” Hughes said. “This is a way for us to provide a flexible plan that will reinforce the Cooperative Program. I believe this is a good option to present to our churches, and then they can decide what is best for them.”
Choice is the operative word.
“The option creates the opportunity for churches not to be backed into a corner,” said MBC Associate Executive Director Jerry Field.
