VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (BP)–Virginia Baptists have authorized their leaders to implement a new missions vision for their state that they hope will equip them to minister in the challenging climate of the 21st century.
Kingdom Advance, which has been in the development stage for much of this year, was overwhelmingly endorsed by the nearly 1,550 messengers attending the annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, Nov. 8-9 in Virginia Beach.
Also during the meeting messengers approved a reduced budget of $15 million and elected as president Beth Fogg, a Richmond homemaker whose father held the position in 1976.
Kingdom Advance, which pervaded every aspect of the annual meeting’s business and worship sessions, aims to step up Virginia Baptists’ state, national and global missions involvement; aggressively identify and train leaders for BGAV congregations; and offer resources to churches in unprecedented ways.
“Kingdom Advance is about all our churches and organizations coming together and making our small voices into one big voice to minister in Christ’s name,” said BGAV Executive Director John Upton, who has been a driving force in putting the missions vision at the forefront of the state association’s ministry agenda.
Upton, who assumed the executive director’s position March 1, unveiled the design at a meeting of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board in April. The board affirmed the concept, as did messengers at a special called meeting of the BGAV May 10 in Charlottesville, Va. Since then Upton and other leaders have crafted the details of the strategic plan.
Messengers’ approval of Kingdom Advance authorizes the mission board to reorganize its staff to implement Kingdom Advance goals, which focus on four mission areas: emerging leaders, empowering leaders, “glocal” missions and evangelism, and courageous churches. A fifth area of the board staff will offer support services.
Messengers amended portions of the constitution and bylaws to smooth the reorganization process.
But complicating the process are financial restrictions stemming from a stagnant economy, depleted reserves and the loss of some churches to a competing state convention.
Messengers approved a reduced $15 million budget — modified slightly from the current year’s budget to support Kingdom Advance aims — for the fiscal year that begins Dec. 1. In addition, they adopted a $500,000 challenge budget to fund Kingdom Advance initiatives.
The current BGAV budget goal is $15.2 million. But budget committee chair Walter Harrow said the newly adopted budget is about $500,000, not $200,000, less than this year’s budget. Some items not included in past BGAV budgets — including the cost of health insurance for mission board staff members — were added to the 2003 budget. In the past health insurance was covered by investment funds, which are not now available.
New initiatives related to Kingdom Advance are “not responsible for our need to cut costs,” said Harrow, an educator and member of Zoar Baptist Church in Deltaville, Va. “This action is required regardless of Kingdom Advance. The status quo is not an option.”
Harrow said level income from contributing churches and increasing expenses “challenged the previous administration [of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board] to utilize cost reductions where possible and the utilization of reserves where appropriate in order to maintain basic programs. We applaud their efforts. However, reserves are no longer available. Interest income is down and many businesses and families have had to cut back in this current economy. Cost reduction is essential.”
As in previous years, the 2003 budget offers churches a variety of “giving tracks,” as well as the option of crafting their own giving plan. The Virginia portion of the 2003 budget — which represents from 66 percent to 72 percent of the budget, depending on the giving track — was recast to reflect the new emphasis on Kingdom Advance’s four focal areas.
Unchanged were three of the tracks for world mission giving — World Mission 1, which funds ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention and represents 34 percent of that track; World Mission 3, which funds ministries of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and represents 28 percent of the track; and the option churches have of creating their own track.
World Mission 2, which represents 28 percent of that budget track and is the choice of the majority of BGAV churches, was modified to support new Kingdom Advance mission initiatives. WM 2 supports a combination of SBC, CBF and other national and international ministries. Funds in WM 2 for the Southern Baptist Convention¹s International Mission Board, North American Mission Board and Annuity Board were reduced by 12.5 percent to provide financial support for the new endeavors.
That drew fire from at least one messenger at a breakout session devoted to discussion of the budget who said such cuts were driving churches to seek affiliations with groups such as the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, which support only the Southern Baptist Convention. But the next day the budget was adopted overwhelmingly and without debate.
The endorsement of Kingdom Advance also impacted the reports of two BGAV committees examining the state association’s relationships with its ministry partners.
The Virginia Baptist ministry partners study committee, which earlier had endorsed a “purpose-driven” model for funding for the BGAV’s ministry partners in Virginia, recommended that Kingdom Advance goals be used to evaluate the relationships.
An agreement between the BGAV and its in-state partners — such as the Virginia Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services or one of the six historically-affiliated schools — will state “the specific ways in which the partner institution is working toward the goals stated in Kingdom Advance and the specific ways in which the BGAV will support the work of the partner toward the achievement of these goals.”
The report, which was adopted by messengers, continued: “If an historic partner of the BGAV finds that its current mission and purpose do not align with the goals of Kingdom Advance, it may choose to sign only [a] covenant agreement, maintaining its historical relationship while severing the financial relationship.”
The BGAV’s national ministry partners study committee had been asked last year to recommend a reduction in funding for the International Mission Board and to initiate dialogue among the churches about budgeting priorities.
Darrell Foster, who chaired the study committee, told messengers that Kingdom Advance had addressed both issues, making it unnecessary for the panel to make additional recommendations.
Beth Fogg, whose election as BGAV president was unopposed, is a member of Second Baptist Church in Richmond. Her father, William Cumbie, who nominated her for president, is retired executive director of the Mount Vernon Baptist Association in northern Virginia. Cumbie was president of the BGAV in 1976.
Also elected unopposed were Don Davidson, pastor of Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Danville, as first vice president and Karl Heilman, pastor of Sandston Baptist Church in Sandston, as second vice president. Following the BGAV’s current unwritten practice, Davidson will likely be nominated for president next year.
All three officers were endorsed by Virginia Baptists Committed, a moderate advocacy group which has been critical of the Southern Baptist Convention. However, Davidson is a vocal supporter of the SBC and his church supports the BGAV through the World Mission 1 track, which channels all national and international contributions to the SBC. Observers said his election signals the BGAV’s commitment to inclusiveness.
Messengers also elected Fred Anderson of Richmond, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and member of River Road Church, Baptist, in Richmond, to his 21st term as clerk.
In addition, they elected Eddie Stratton as treasurer of the BGAV, filling the spot left vacant by the death of Nat Kellum last year. Stratton was employed as treasurer and business manager of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board last year and had been serving as interim treasurer of the BGAV.
In an attempt to attract more laypeople to the meeting, this year’s sessions were held on Friday and Saturday, probably for the first time in the BGAV’s history. The BGAV program committee has been experimenting with different days for the meeting, which next year will be on Thursday and Friday.
This year’s meeting also was marked by an unusual Friday night concert sponsored by the BGAV. The Christian contemporary band FFH performed, drawing an estimated 2,000 people — many from the Virginia Beach area — to the Pavilion Convention Center.
In addition, messengers sent care packages to the families of enlisted soldiers and sailors stationed at the area’s numerous military installations, including the massive Norfolk Naval Base, home to the Atlantic fleet. Many are preparing to be shipped overseas as the U.S. government continues to battle terrorism and considers war with Iraq. Messengers signed banners, later sent to the military bases, promising prayer from Virginia Baptists.
In other action, messengers adopted a bylaw change that will permit the BGAV to nominate two persons to serve on the board of directors for the Baptist Center for Ethics, a Nashville, Tenn.,-based ethics organization funded in part by Virginia Baptists.
Next year’s annual meeting will be Nov. 13-14 at the Richmond Convention Center.
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