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23 Baptist state conventions cut budgets; 12 raise Cooperative Program gifts


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Over half of the state Baptist conventions have decreased their budgets for the coming year, according to reports from their annual meetings. And yet, six of the 23 conventions making cuts are staying on course to increase the portion of Cooperative Program gifts forwarded for ministry beyond their states.

The Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention set the pace with a 4.5 percent increase to the portion of its $2.25 million budget allocated for SBC national and international missions and ministry. Of the 15 state conventions that are increasing budgets, six of them also are raising the percentage allocated to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries.

A year ago, the overall picture of financial growth was far more favorable when 15 of the 41 state conventions planned for increased budgets, although several made sharp cuts during the year to current budgets, including Florida, Georgia and Texas (Baptist General Convention of Texas).

In spite of facing a difficult economic forecast, no state convention is cutting back on the portion of CP receipts allocated to SBC ministry to fund two mission boards, six seminaries, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the SBC Executive Committee.

Summaries of officer elections and budgets follow:

ALABAMA — Jimmy Jackson, pastor of Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville, and Mike Shaw, pastor of First Baptist Church in Pelham, were re-elected to the offices of president and first vice president, respectively. Messengers approved a flat $46 million budget for 2010 that will continue to send 42.5 percent to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries.

ALASKA — Ed Gregory, pastor of First Baptist Church in Anchorage, was elected president and Bryan Myers, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Fairbanks, first vice president. A $2.1 million budget was approved for 2009, up 3.8 percent over the current budget, while maintaining an allocation of 33 percent to SBC causes from Cooperative Program gifts by Alaska’s churches.

ARIZONA — Steve Ballew, pastor of Trinity Southern Baptist Church in Casa Grande, was re-elected as president and Chet Anderson, associate pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Lake Havasu City, was elected first vice president. A 2010 budget of nearly $5 million represents a 9.4 percent decrease from the original 2009 budget, while increasing the portion of undesignated CP gifts sent to SBC causes from 25.88 percent to 26.016 percent.

ARKANSAS — Clay Hallmark, pastor of First Baptist Church in Marion, was elected president and Randy Brantley of Little Rock, an evangelist and church growth consultant, first vice president over Ferrell Duffel, pastor of First Baptist Church in Manila. Messengers approved a budget of nearly $21.5 million for 2010, a 2.5 percent increase over the current year, with a 0.2 percent increase for SBC causes to 42.37 percent.

CALIFORNIA — Walter Price, pastor of Fellowship in the Pass in Beaumont, was elected president, and Blake Withers, pastor of Las Brisas Bible Fellowship in Murrieta first vice president. A 2010 budget of $11,607,958 was approved, a 4.8 percent decrease from the current budget, with the portion sent to SBC causes remaining at 30 percent.

COLORADO — Messengers elected Sean Cole, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Sterling, president; Doug Allen, pastor of First Baptist Church in Westcliffe, first vice president. Messengers approved a 2010 budget of $3,830,642, a 5 percent decrease from the current budget and will continue to forward 29.5 percent of CP gifts to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries.

DAKOTAS — New officers include Steve Ford, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Vermillion, S.D., president, and Tim Thompson, pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Mobridge, vice president. Messengers approved a 2010 budget of $1,321,284, a $3,000 increase from 2009, while also increasing the portion of CP gifts forwarded to SBC causes by a half-percent to 15.5 percent.

D.C. — Melvin Doxie, a member of First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., and Yvonne Lamb, a member of Dayspring Community Church in Lanham, Md., were elected president and first vice president, respectively. A $1,137,932 budget for 2010 was approved, representing a slight decrease from the current year, with 35 percent of undesignated cooperative budget receipts allocated for Southern Baptist and American Baptist causes.

FLORIDA — John Cross, pastor of South Biscayne Church in North Port, and Wayne Briant, pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Sarasota, were re-elected as president and vice president, respectively. A 2009 budget of more than $35.4 million, representing less than a 1 percent increase over last year’s revised budget, will continue to send 40 percent to SBC causes.

GEORGIA– Messengers elected Dan Spencer, pastor of First Baptist Church in Thomasville, as president, and Tim Burnham, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lindale as first vice president. The 2010 budget, at $45.5 million, is down 8.2 percent from 2009. Georgia Baptists will continue to allocate roughly 41 percent of CP receipts to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries.

HAWAII — Walter Agena, a member of OlaNui! in Honolulu, was elected president and Steve Irvin, pastor of Pali View Baptist Church in Honolulu, first vice president. Messengers approved a slightly higher budget of $3,171,123 for 2010, while continuing to send 31.5 percent of CP receipts to SBC causes.

ILLINOIS — Doug Munton, pastor of First Baptist Church in O’Fallon, was elected president and Jonathon Peters, pastor of First Baptist Church in Columbia, vice president. Messengers approved a 2010 budget of $9,060,400, a fraction of a percent less than the previous year, and kept the percentage of Cooperative Program dollars sent to national and international causes at 43.25 percent.

INDIANA — Alan Scott, pastor of Oakhill Baptist Church in Evansville, and Scott Hobbs, pastor of First Baptist in Griffith, were re-elected to the offices of president and first vice president, respectively. The $4.8 million budget represents a 2.8 percent increase over 2009, with the portion of CP gifts forwarded to SBC causes increasing by 1 percent to 36.5 percent.

IOWA — Ted Keys, pastor of Community Southern Baptist Church in Waterloo, was elected as president and Eugene Guthrie, pastor of Crestwood Baptist Church, first vice president. Messengers approved a budget of more than $1.7 million, up .1 percent from the current year, with 20 percent of CP gifts continuing to be sent to SBC causes.

KANSAS-NEBRASKA — Ron Pracht, pastor of Olivet Southern Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan., was elected president and John Shields, pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Lexington, Neb., vice president. A budget of more than $5.7 million represents a 1 percent increase from the current year, while the portion of CP gifts from the churches in the two states allocated for SBC causes remains at 32 percent.

KENTUCKY — Don Mathis, staff evangelist at Eastwood Baptist Church in Bowling Green, was elected president, and Adam Greenway, an assistant professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, first vice president. A budget of $23.5 million was approved for the 2010-11 fiscal year, a decrease of 4 percent over the current budget, with the SBC allocation increasing by .68 percent to 38 percent.

LOUISIANA –- Rod Masteller, pastor of Summer Grove Baptist in Shreveport, and Darrell Hoychick, pastor of Trinity Baptist in Pineville, were elected president and vice president, respectively. Messengers approved a 2010 budget of $22,543,157, a slight increase from the 2009 budget, increasing by .54 percent the amount forwarded to SBC causes to 36.49 percent.

MARYLAND-DELAWARE — Byron Day, pastor of Emmanuel Church in Laurel, Md., was re-elected president, with Harold Phillips, pastor of Pleasant View Church in Port Deposit, elected as first vice president. Messengers approved the 2010 budget of more than $6.2 million, down from $6.4 million in 2009. The convention will continue to send 41 percent of CP gifts to SBC causes.

MICHIGAN — Ken Render, senior pastor of Lakeside Community Church in St. Clair Shores, was re-elected president and Roscoe Belton, pastor of Middlebelt Baptist Church, was elected as first vice president. The 2010 budget of more than $3.2 million reflects a decrease of 4.3 percent from the current year while maintaining an allocation of 30.5 percent of CP gifts from Michigan churches to SBC causes.

MINNESOTA-WISCONSIN — Jeff Nettles, pastor of Rolling Hills Church in Platteville, Wis., was elected president and Make Fahey, pastor of Roseville (Minn.) Baptist Church, who had also been nominated as president, was elected first vice president. Messengers approved a 2010 budget of slightly more than $2 million, a decrease of 6.37 percent from the current year, while maintaining the portion of CP gifts sent to SBC causes at 13 percent.

MISSISSIPPI — Gary Richardson, pastor of North Oxford Baptist Church in Oxford, was elected president and Rickey Blythe, pastor of First Baptist Church in New Albany, first vice president. A budget of just over $34 million was approved, a decrease of 2.42 percent, with the portion sent to SBC causes continuing at 35 percent.

MISSOURI — Bruce McCoy, pastor of Canaan Baptist Church in St. Louis, was re-elected president by a vote of 654-205 over Jody Shelenhamer, a layman from First Baptist Church in Bolivar. John Marshall, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Springfield, was re-elected first vice president. A budget of slightly more than $15.05 million was approved for 2010, representing a 9.2 percent decrease from the current year. The portion sent to SBC causes increases by .25 percent to 36.75 percent.

MONTANA — William Johnson, pastor of Gallatin Valley Community Church, was elected as president and Carl Wood, a layman from First Baptist Church in Hamilton, vice president. A 2010 budget of over $1.5 million is $22,899 less than the current budget but continues to forward 22 percent of CP receipts to SBC causes.

NEVADA — Frank Bushey, pastor of Fellowship Community Church in Reno, was re-elected president and Ron Trummell, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Pahrump, was elected first vice president. Messengers adopted a 2010 budget of $2,381,719, down 15.5 percent from the current budget. The convention will continue to allocate 29.5 percent of CP receipts to national and international missions and ministries.

NEW ENGLAND — Messengers elected Phil Wilkes, pastor of New Colony Baptist Church in Billerica, Mass., as president and re-elected Bob Wellner, retired pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Brimfield, Mass., as vice president. A flat budget of nearly $3 million was approved for 2010, with 21.5 percent of CP gifts from New England churches continuing to be forwarded to SBC causes.

NEW MEXICO — Bruce Kirby, pastor of First Baptist Church in Raton, and Garland Moore, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Milan, were re-elected as president and first vice president, respectively. A budget of $4 million is a reduction of .05 percent from the current year, with the portion of CP gifts sent to SBC causes remaining at 30.5 percent.

NEW YORK — Rick Wilburn, pastor of Tupper Lake (N.Y.) Baptist Church, and Mark Davis, pastor of West Monmouth Baptist Church in Freehold, N.J., were re-elected as president and vice president respectively. A budget of over $3.2 million was approved, down 3.4 percent from 2009, though the portion of CP gifts sent to SBC causes increases by .25 percent to 27.75 percent.

NORTH CAROLINA — Ed Yount, pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Conover, was elected president, and Mark Harris, pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte, first vice president. The 2010 budget of $34.8 million reflects a decrease of $4.8 million from the current budget and no longer allows a variety of giving plans with different allocation formulas, instead now allocating 34.5 percent for Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries.

NORTHWEST — Messengers elected Scott Brewer, pastor of Meadowbrook Church in Redmond, Wash., as president over Walt Kellcy, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lakewood, Wash., and Rickey Scott, pastor of Riviera Baptist Church in Eugene, Ore., then elected Kellcy as first vice president. A flat $5.85 million budget for 2010 will continue to forward 25.5 percent of CP gifts to SBC causes.

OHIO — Messengers elected Ron Hopkins, pastor of Briggs Road Baptist Church in Columbus, as president and Randy Chestnut, pastor of Church of the Hills in Northfield, first vice president. An $8.2 million budget was approved for 2010, a decrease of .02 percent from the current year, continuing to send 40.25 percent of CP gifts to SBC causes.

OKLAHOMA — Emerson Falls, pastor of Glorieta Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, was re-elected president, with Blake Gideon, pastor of First Baptist Church in Inola, elected first vice president in a three-way contest with Greg Hall, pastor of First Baptist Church in Cleveland, and Rusty Canoy, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lexington. A 2010 budget of $26 million represents an $800,000 increase over the current year while continuing to allocate 40 percent for SBC causes.

PENNSYLVANIA/SOUTH JERSEY — Peter Yanes, pastor of International Bible Church in Upper Darby, Pa., and Kim Grueser, pastor of Pittsburgh Baptist Church, were re-elected as president and first vice president, respectively. Messengers approved a 2010 budget of $3,507,748, a slight increase over the current year’s budget of $3,456,828, increasing the portion to be forwarded to national and international missions and ministries to 25.2 percent, an increase of .1 percent.

SOUTH CAROLINA — Fred Stone, pastor of First Baptist Church in Pickens, was elected president, and Dusty Bradshaw, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in North Charleston, first vice president. A 2010 budget of nearly $32.2 million was approved, a decrease of 6 percent from the current year, while the portion allocated for SBC causes will remain at 40.4 percent.

TENNESSEE — Randy Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church in Sevierville, and Poly Rouse, pastor of Hermitage Hills Baptist Church in Hermitage, were elected president and vice president, respectively. Messengers approved a $36 million budget, a decrease of 7.7 percent from the current budget, with 40 percent of receipts continuing to go to SBC causes.

TEXAS (BGCT) — David Lowrie, pastor of First Baptist Church in Canyon, was re-elected president, and Ed Jackson, a member of First Baptist Church in Garland, was elected first vice president. Messengers adopted a $44 million budget for 2010, a decrease of 9.8 percent compared with the 2009 spending plan, while continuing to forward 21 percent to SBC causes in the preferred adopted budget.

TEXAS (SBTC) — Byron McWilliams, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Odessa, was elected president, with Kevin Ueckert, pastor of South Side Baptist Church in Abilene, re-elected as vice president. A $24.8 million budget was approved for 2010, a 1.18 percent increase over the current year, while continuing to send 55 percent to SBC causes.

UTAH-IDAHO — Messengers elected James Gregory, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Mountain Home, Idaho, as president and Dan Ozuna, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Agua Viva in Caldwell, Idaho, first vice president. A budget of over $2.25 million in 2010 is down half a percent from the 2009 budget; the portion of CP gifts forwarded to SBC causes, however, increases from 21.5 to 25 percent.

VIRGINIA (BGAV) — Messengers elected Tim Madison, pastor of Mechanicsville Baptist Church, as president and Bob Bass, a layman from Bon Air Baptist Church in Richmond, first president. The $14 million budget for 2010 represents an increase of about 1.4 percent over the church year, with no change to the four funding tracks, one of which is pre-set to contribute 34 percent to SBC causes.

VIRGINIA (SBCV) — Mark Becton, pastor of Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond, was elected president by acclamation as was Randy Green, pastor of Harvest Fellowship Baptist Church in Smithfield, first vice president. Messengers adopted a 2010 budget of $9.2 million, down from $9.5 million for the current year. The SBCV will forward 50.25 percent of undesignated CP receipts to national and international missions and ministries, an increase of .25 percent.

WEST VIRGINIA — Seth Polk, pastor of Cross Lanes Baptist Church in Charleston, was elected president and Todd Hill, pastor of Grace Baptist in Parkersburg, vice president. A budget of over $2.8 million for 2010 represents a 1.5 percent increase while maintaining the portion of CP gifts sent to SBC causes at 38 percent.

WYOMING — Buddy Hanson, pastor of Mountain View Baptist Church in Mills, was elected president, and Max Janzen, pastor of Sunnyside Baptist Church in Cheyenne, first vice president. Messengers approved an overall budget of $1,532,955 for 2010, a 1 percent decrease from the current year, while continuing to forward 32.5 percent of CP receipts to national and international missions and ministries.
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Tammi Reed Ledbetter is news editor of the Southern Baptist TEXAN, newsjournal of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

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