GIVING TO THE MISSION
Central Baptist Bearden has a unified budget which is a plan for how we expend donated monies for missions and ministries. The church budget year runs July 1 - June 30. There is an open process of budget preparation which results in a unified budget being presented to the congregation for approval and adoption. Section I of our budget is Missions. This total for 20010-2011 is $575,801, which is 16% of the total church budget.
The missions budget section is sub-divided into the following sections, comprising a total of 52 line items.
• Global Missions $321,733
• State and National Missions $ 54,603
• Local Missions $177,095
• Missions Education & Support $ 23,400
$576,831
It is significant and revealing that the very first line item in our church budget is #101, Cooperative Missions. (at one time this line item was titled Cooperative Program) Line 101 has generally been allocated as a percentage of all undesignated tithes and offerings coming into the church. The percentage may fluctuate from year to year. It is currently 5%.
One unique thing that has happened at Central Baptist Bearden, which served to redirect the percentage of line 101, was the creation of a percentage allocation for DIRECT global missions causes.
Beginning in 2001 the church voted to set aside 2% of what had previously been "exported" to the denomination (via line 101) into a new line item to be called Direct Foreign Missions (the name was changed from Foreign to Global in 2007). A committee was elected to oversee the distribution of these funds. The original concern was for missions causes that were being reduced or even eliminated by the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board, known as IMB. Our new practice has worked very well and numerous partnerships have developed through the work of this rotating committee. The percentage set aside is now 2.6% and the money is distributed pretty equally between IMB and CBF missions locations and personnel.
Following the origin of the Direct Global Missions line item, this same principle was applied to local and state/national missions. Two more new line items were introduced to the budget. Line 114 for direct state/national and Line 130 for direct local. The existing Missions Committee was charged with distributing these funds. These two line items are .6% each. Central may have been one of the first, if not the first, to follow this practice. These are still cooperative missions dollars but instead of "exporting" them to denominational offices, we decide their use right here at Central.
YOU HAVE A CHOICE
We live in the day of choices, and members of Central are no exception. Anyone contributing through CBCB has three choices as to where and how we "export" one's missions dollars. In November 2003 the church voted to provide the following three giving options on all church offering envelopes. They are as follows:
Box 1 40% SBC (Southern Baptist Convention)
60% TBC (Tennessee Baptist Convention) receiving
Box 2 40% CBF (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship)
60% TBC (Tennessee Baptist Convention)
*Box 3 28.5% SBC
28.5% CBF
43% TBC (Tennessee Baptist Convention)
*Box 3 is the default box applied when an envelope has no box checked.
Since these envelope choices were adopted by the church we have noticed these trends:
1. About 35% of submitted envelopes are marked, 65% unmarked.
2. The number of people checking any box has increased with the choices.
3. More people are checking Box 3.
4. The box checked most often is Box 2.
It should be stated that Central Baptist Bearden will direct one's missions dollars in any direction that is indicated on one's envelope. It might also be mentioned that all contributions not received in an offering envelope are distributed according to Box 3, the default option.
SPECIAL OFFERINGS RECEIVED ANNUALLY
Central Baptist Bearden receives four missions offerings per year, one each quarter. Special envelopes are mailed to individuals' homes and additional envelopes are made available in the church. Envelopes offer the choice of giving your offering through the Southern Baptist Convention or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
The four quarterly offerings are as follows:
Jan-Feb-Mar Local Missions Knox County Association (10% of this offering is allocated to send inner city kids to Camp BaYoCa.)
Apr-May-Jun Home Missions
July-Aug-Sep State Missions
Oct-Nov-Dec Global Missions (10% of this offering is allocated to world hunger relief through Baptist World Aid of the BWA.)
