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Disciple-making strategy working in NC
Chad Austin, BSC Communications
May 22, 2015
4 MIN READ TIME

Disciple-making strategy working in NC

Disciple-making strategy working in NC
Chad Austin, BSC Communications
May 22, 2015

The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s (BSC) board of directors took action on several items and heard reports on Cooperative Program (CP) giving and the convention’s disciple-making strategy in the board’s regularly scheduled May meeting.

During their two-day meeting held May 19-20 at the Caraway Conference Center near Asheboro, board members:

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Photo by K. Allan Blume

Clay Warf, executive director of the North Carolina Baptist Foundation, addresses the North Carolina Baptist scholarship fund.

  • Voted unanimously to sell the Battle House, the former Baptist campus ministry property at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to Carolina Christian Study Center for $1.55 million.

  • Voted unanimously to transfer administration and oversight of the annual N.C. Baptist college scholarship program from the convention to the North Carolina Baptist Foundation.

  • Approved a motion to allow the convention to transfer $68,479 to a contingency reserve fund. The funds to be transferred represent 20 percent of a $342,494 surplus in the convention’s 2014 operations budget.

  • Approved a motion to change the dates for the 2017 annual meeting from Nov. 13-14, 2017 to Nov. 6-7, 2017. Convention bylaws stipulate that the BSC annual meeting will begin on the first Monday following the second Sunday in November, however a scheduling conflict with the host facility necessitated the change.

Beverly Volz, director of accounting services, reported to the board that through April 30, funds received through CP giving totaled approximately $9.39 million, which is up more than 5 percent over the same time period as last year. Additionally, giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions and the North Carolina Missions Offering is also up over the same time period as last year.

Based on giving trends among N.C. Baptists, Tony Honeycutt, chair of the Budget Special Committee, said the committee is considering a proposal that would increase the BSC’s 2016 Cooperative Program budget by $500,000. If approved, that will be the first budget increase since 2009 and will bring the budget up from $29 million this year to $29.5 million next year.

Additionally, Honeycutt said the committee is considering increasing BSC’s budget allocation to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) by three percent. The increase will bring N.C. Baptists’ total contribution to the SBC from 37 percent up to 40 percent, providing about $1 million more for CP missions support.

The committee will present its budget proposal to the BSC’s executive committee in July before it is presented to the full board in September. The final budget recommendation will be discussed and voted on by the messengers during the annual meeting in Greensboro November 2-3, 2015.

During the executive director-treasurer’s report, Milton Hollifield said N.C. Baptists are making “significant progress” in Kingdom advancement through the convention’s disciple-making strategy to impact lostness in the state.

Citing high attendance figures at the One Story disciple-making conference in February and the May 2 One Day training event, Hollifield said more pastors are asking the question, “How do I lead my people to make disciples?”

“We have undoubtedly gained momentum in the areas of disciple-making and church strengthening over the last year,” Hollifield said. “We are leading the way in an important conversation that is about more than growing the institution of the church, but about the people of the church growing to become disciples who will share the gospel with others and make disciples.”

The May board meeting was the first to be held in Hollifield Hall, Caraway’s newest facility. Named in honor of the late Wyndolyn Royster Hollifield, who was a generous supporter of Baptist causes throughout her life, Hollifield Hall was officially dedicated on May 19.

The 7,000-square-foot, $1.3 million facility features auditorium and meeting space that accommodates up to 300 guests.