September 18, 2000
North Carolina giving options criticized
___RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP)--Baptist leaders in North Carolina are reportedly gearing up to defend an option that allows churches to contribute to statewide ministries without passing funds on to the Southern Baptist Convention.
___Since 1925, state Baptist conventions have collected money from churches for a Cooperative Program unified budget that simultaneously funds both the respective state convention and the SBC. The state convention determines a percentage to divide those funds between in-state and worldwide efforts. Under the arrangement, state and national conventions remain autonomous within their own spheres and can't dictate policy to one another.
___After conservatives won control of the SBC in the 1980s, however, a few state groups added flexibility to their giving plans to accommodate moderate churches that still affirm the state organization but want to bypass national SBC ministries.
___The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina currently has four giving options. Three forward various amounts to the SBC. The fourth divides funds between the state convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a moderate splinter group that formed in 1991.
___With conservatives now gaining sway in the North Carolina convention, however, some are saying the state office should no longer count gifts to the CBF as Cooperative Program. North Carolina Baptists should strengthen ties to the SBC, according to these voices.
___Whether CBF gifts are counted as part of the Cooperative Program is important both for bragging rights and for representation at state convention annual meetings. Contributions to the unified budget are a traditional yardstick to measure loyalty to and support for the state convention.
___The amount given through the Cooperative Program is used in a formula based on membership and denominational support to determine how many voting messengers a particular church is entitled to at the state annual meeting.
___According to a report in the North Carolina Baptist newspaper the Biblical Recorder, leaders anticipate a motion will come from the floor at this November's annual meeting to do away with the CBF option.
___Members of a budget committee said they discussed a possible challenge but decided not to recommend a change in the current giving scheme. The state General Board's executive committee held a similar discussion Aug. 15. Members of the budget committee say they are prepared to defend the multiple plans.
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