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Kentucky Baptists Pass Task Force Proposals
11/16/2010
Dr. Hershael York, chairman of the Kentucky Great Commission Task Force, presents the report to messengers at the KBC annual meeting.
LEXINGTON – The Kentucky Baptist Convention will move to a 50-50 percent split of Cooperative Program funds with the Southern Baptist Convention over the next 10 years as result of action taken Tuesday at its 173rd annual meeting here.
Messengers voted 621 to 317 in favor of the proposals of the Kentucky Great Commission Task Force following an hour of report presentation and debate in the morning session at Immanuel Baptist Church. The current division of funds distributes 62 percent of CP gifts among various Kentucky organizations and forwards 38 percent to the SBC.
During his presentation of the report, task force chairman Hershael York announced revisions to the timetable for achieving the even distribution of CP dollars from seven years to 10 years. He said the panel decided on the last-minute revision earlier in the morning before the first session was gaveled to order.
York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, said the task force decided to extend the timetable to create a smoother transition for the affected organizations. They also reduced the first-year, across-the-board allocations cuts for the KBC Mission Board, Campbellsville University, University of the Cumberlands and Kentucky Baptist agencies and institutions from 6 to 5 percent.
The task force further revised a planned additional 7 percent cut for Campbellsville University and the University of the Cumberlands in the first year to 6 percent.
"This would mean there will be a little bit more staying in Kentucky and a little bit less to the SBC that first year, but we’re going in the right direction," he explained.
During debate on the floor, two messengers proposed substitute motions.
Jerry Kibbons, messenger from Salem Baptist Church in Taylor Baptist Association, proposed a 1.5 percent allocation increase in CP giving to SBC causes with the intent to achieve equal distribution in the future.
Dennis Hammonds, pastor of Swiss Colony Baptist Church in London, proposed an "incremental" shifting of funds each year to achieve the so-called "50-50 split" instead of starting with a quick step-down in dollars to KBC causes in fiscal year 2011-12 as called for by the task force.
Messengers rejected both proposed substitute motions.
In speaking for the GCTF recommendations, Robert Franklin, senior pastor of Main Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, encouraged Kentucky Baptists to make sacrifices in order to extend the gospel to the world.
Kentucky Baptists must "lay aside the good things for the best things," Franklin said.
Lynn Traylor, pastor of Buckner Baptist Church in Oldham-Trimble Baptist Association, expressed concern that a reduction in funding for the KBC Mission Board would cut services to smaller churches.
"I depend on the Kentucky Baptist Convention for many ministries," Traylor said. "Which of these will be cut?"
York lamented that the funding portion of the GCTF report received more attention than the panel’s call for Kentucky Baptists to give "More For Christ" in order to fulfill the Great Commission.
"We want (‘More For Christ’) to be the byword of Kentucky Baptists," York said.
The task force described the three-year "More For Christ" initiative as "an intentional time of repentance, renewal and redirection for the future."
Renewed commitment to the Cooperative Program also is part of the GCTF recommendations. Specifically, the report calls for increased giving by churches and individuals to CP to achieve an overall increase in receipts of 3 percent per year for the next 10 years. Achieving this goal would require churches on average to increase the percentage of undesignated giving that they contribute through the Cooperative Program by approximately .25 percent for each of the next 10 years.
The final recommendation is to allow the task force to stay in place for the duration of the seven-year plan in order to monitor progress and report annually to Kentucky Baptists.
Upon approval of the task force’s report with the last-minute changes made by the panel, messengers were presented a revised budget for KBC’s 2011-12 fiscal year.
The budget calls for 43.54 percent ($10,231,649) of an operational budget of $23.5 million to be forwarded to Southern Baptist causes. That would mean $52.46 percent ($12,328,351) of the budget would be devoted to Kentucky Baptist causes.
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of nearly 2.400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. For more, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Release prepared by Dannah Prather, Marketing & Media Relations Associate
