CARY, N.C. — The Executive Committee of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s board of directors unanimously approved a recommended $29,139,500 Cooperative Program (CP) budget for 2027 and affirmed several proposed bylaw changes during a regularly scheduled meeting held by video conference on Tuesday, July 14.
Under the proposal, CP receipts would be allocated equally between N.C. Baptist ministries and global ministry partners, including the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board and the six Southern Baptist seminaries.
The proposal also calls for a nearly 11% allocation to N.C. Baptist-related entities, which includes the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, the Biblical Recorder, Fruitland Baptist Bible College and Provision Financial Resources.
The proposal, which was presented by the board’s Budget Special Committee, will now be presented to the full N.C. Baptist board of directors for consideration during the board’s regularly scheduled meeting in September. Following action by the board, the proposal will move forward to messengers for a final vote at the N.C. Baptist annual meeting to be held in Greensboro in November.
In other budget-related actions, the Executive Committee approved a $2.8 million goal for the 2027 North Carolina Missions Offering (NCMO), which would be allocated among N.C. Baptists on Mission (62%), church planting (28%) and associational missions projects (10%).
Additionally, the committee approved a measure that calls for any CP receipts above the 2027 budget to be allocated between N.C. church planting and missions engagement initiatives.
Both the NCMO goal and the special allocation for 2027 CP overages will also be considered by the N.C. Baptist board before being presented to messengers at this year’s annual meeting.
Financial update
The votes on 2027 budgetary items came amid an encouraging financial report on giving through the first half of 2026. As of June 30, CP contributions given by N.C. Baptists totaled more than $13.9 million, which is about $482,000 or nearly 3.6% ahead of the same time period as last year. Officials said the total also marks the highest mid-year giving level since 2017.
Additionally, gifts from N.C. Baptists to both the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions both showed year-over-year increases. Through June 30, Annie Armstrong gifts totaled nearly $5.6 million, which is about $229,000 or 4.1% ahead of last year. Lottie Moon gifts totaled more than $10.9 million, which is more than $696,000 or 6.8% higher than 2025.
Gifts to the 2026 North Carolina Missions Offering totaled more than $585,000 through the end of June.
Proposed bylaw changes
The Executive Committee also affirmed several proposed bylaw changes put forth by the board’s Articles and Bylaws Special Committee. The proposed changes address the size of the board of directors, terms of service for trustees of the state convention’s related entities and updating some references to N.C. Baptist Hospital throughout the bylaws. The proposed changes will be considered by the full board in September and by messengers at the annual meeting in November.
The proposed changes would cap the size of the state convention’s board of directors at 40 total members, which would include 35 at-large members and five ex-officio voting members. The board currently consists of 73 members, and the current bylaws do not limit the number of individuals who may serve.
The proposed changes would modify how at-large board members are selected. Currently, the board includes at least one at-large member from each of the state convention’s 10 geographic regions, with an additional at-large member elected from each region for every 10,000 church members in that region, based on data collected through Annual Church Profile submissions.
Under the proposal, the board would retain geographic representation while limiting the number of at-large members to 35. Each region would continue to receive at least one at-large board member, with additional representation based on each region’s proportion of statewide church membership reported by cooperating churches.
In addition to at-large board members, convention bylaws stipulate that five ex-officio voting members serve on the board. They include the convention president, first vice president and second vice president, the president of N.C. Baptists on Mission and the president of the N.C. Baptist Associational Missions Conference. Those positions would remain unchanged under the proposal.
If approved, officials said the changes would be phased in over time as current board members’ terms of service expire. Officials said the Articles and Bylaws Special Committee has discussed changes to bylaw provisions related to the board size since 2024, following a recommendation from the board secretary. In 2025, the committee conducted research, surveyed board members to determine engagement levels and carefully considered ways to ensure regional geographic representation. Officials also said a more reasonable board size would foster more meaningful engagement among members related to mission and strategy, increase oversight and accountability, as well as provide cost savings to the convention.
Another proposed change would permit trustees elected to serve on the boards of the state convention’s related entities to serve two consecutive four-year terms on the same board. Presently, the state convention’s bylaws require trustees to wait one year before serving another term on the same entity’s board.
Representatives from the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina and Provision Financial Resources requested the change, citing some of the unique regulatory, governance and compliance requirements applicable to their organizations.
The Articles and Bylaws Special Committee also recommended removing references to N.C. Baptist Hospital throughout the bylaws to reflect changes in the historic relationship between the hospital and state convention that were approved by state convention messengers in 2022. Those changes ended the convention’s role in providing Cooperative Program funding and electing hospital trustees, reflecting the evolution in the hospital’s governance structure amid a changing healthcare landscape.
Next meeting
The Executive Committee’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Aug. 18.
