Southern Baptists in Mississippi and in Texas anticipate increased giving and increased ministry in 2022. At meetings this week, the executive boards of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB) and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) approved larger budgets, designated financial gifts for disaster relief and prayer and forged partnership for church planting.
MBCB Executive Committee approves $50,000 in relief aid, increases CP
By William Perkins/MBCB
CINTON, Miss. (BP) – The Executive Committee of the MBCB, meeting Tuesday (Aug. 24) at Garaywa Camp and Conference Center, unanimously approved $50,000 for Southern Baptists’ Send Relief ministry to be used in responding to the twin crises in Haiti and Afghanistan.
Send Relief, a compassion ministry jointly administered by the International Mission Board in Richmond, Va., and the North American Mission Board in Alpharetta, Ga., will receive $25,000 for the Caribbean nation of Haiti, which has been ravaged recently by an earthquake and a hurricane, while the remaining $25,000 will be dedicated to assisting refugees from the Muslim extremist takeover of Afghanistan.
The executive committee also unanimously approved and sent to the full convention board, which met later the same day at Garaywa, a proposed 2022 Cooperative Program budget totaling $30,231,786, an increase of 6 percent over the 2021 budget. A notable provision in the 2022 budget is an increase in what the state convention will send to the National Cooperative Program Allocation Budget from the current 38 percent to the proposed 39 percent of the total budget.
The 2022 CP budget, which was unanimously approved by the full convention board, will now be considered by messengers to the 185th annual meeting of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Oct. 26-27 at First Baptist Church Jackson, Miss.
SBTC increases budget, maintains 55% national CP allocation
By Southern Baptist TEXAN Staff
GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP) – The executive board of the SBTC voted to recommend for approval at the convention’s 2021 annual meeting a $26.5 million budget for 2022, reflecting an increase of 1.51 percent. The 2022 budget continues the convention’s practice of forwarding 55 percent, or $14.3 million, to the National Cooperative Program Allocation Budget while retaining 45 percent, or $11.7 million, within Texas for state ministries.
Significant budgetary changes for 2022 include a $300,000 reduction in church planting expenditures because of the North American Mission Board’s increased funding in that area, an amount expected to exceed $1 million. However, the board also announced a new church-planting collaboration between the state convention and NAMB. See related story.
The board approved the awarding of a reserves funding grant of $100,000 to the SBC Executive Committee as a designated gift to support the committee’s new initiative of assisting churches in prayer ministry. The SBC Executive Committee was assigned prayer leadership during the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in June. SBTC is the first state convention to lend financial support to the work.
A $104,500 budget reallocation to the state missions offering for evangelism events, personal evangelism and church planting consultants is also included, as are smaller increases for technology maintenance and an all-ministry staff retreat. The budget also includes a first-time allocation of $10,000 for Woman’s Missionary Union efforts in SBTC churches. The WMU and the SBTC are currently exploring a formal relationship.
