BGAV Receipts Down, SBCV Up

by T. C. Pinckney                                                                                       Vol. XVII, No. 1, January 2004

BGAV Cooperative Program receipts for their 2003 fiscal year were $954,015 or 6.6% below the $15,000,000 budget goal; $14,015,985 was received. Consequently, the budget goal for 2004 has been reduced to $14,300,000. Spending in 2003 was reduced $850,000 through elimination of 21 staff positions, changes to programming, and reduced building operations.

The following table shows at approximately three year intervals the number and percentage of churches in each of the BGAV’s four ways to contribute beginning in 1993 when the World Missions 3 track was instituted. Remember that WM2 is the nearest thing to an official BGAV budget track because if a church makes no other choice, it is automatically placed in WM2. Those churches which select WM1 send to the Southern Baptist Convention all their money not supporting the BGAV state work. Those choosing WM3 send all that non-state money to the CBF. In WM3 the non-state dollars are divided among a series of line items; only 7.34% currently goes to the SBC in WM2. Of course those churches that design their own plans may decide for themselves and each church may differ from every other church.

                                                                                                                                           2003

Giving Plan          1993                 1996                    1999                    2003                % of CP $

                       # Ch’s    %      # Ch’s    %         # Ch’s    %         # Ch’s     %              Receipts

WM 1               233    15.0%     293    18.7%        289    19.4%      332      23%                 28%

WM 2            1,063    68.8%     870    55.4%        855    57.3%      732      51%                 35%

WM 3                 81      5.2%     150       9.5%        144      9.6%        91      6.3%                 14%

Self Design   168    10.9%     257     16.4%        203    13.6%      281   19.6%                 23%

                      1,545                 1,570                     1,492                  1,436

Several aspects of these figures are interesting. For one thing the total number of BGAV churches has decreased in spite of the fact that they have started a number of new churches during these years. Second, the number of churches choosing WM1 where more money goes to the SBC has increased, even though some churches that had been in WM1 have joined the SBCV and left the BGAV. Third, the number of churches in WM2 has steadily decreased; could this be because the percentage of dollars flowing to the SBC from WM2 has also been steadily reduced? Fourth, while the number of churches choosing the WM3, pro-CBF track initially grew, it has diminished over the last seven years. Finally, although there has been fluctuation in the numbers of churches designing their own giving plans, overall that number has grown by 67% since 1993; does this reflect dissatisfaction with BGAV budgetting?

Historical BGAV budget goals are also interesting.

1993 $16,300,000                 2003 $15,000,000

1996 $15,400,000                 2004 $14,300,000

1999 $15,083,901

The BGAV experience of slow but steady decline contrasts sharply with what has happened in the SBCV. Here are annual SBCV Cooperative Program dollar receipts (not budget, because receipts have run so far ahead of budget):

1993       $       32,142          1998    $2,789,000

1994       $       84,197          1999    $3,537,000

1995       $    151,681           2000    $3,970,000

1996       $    688,418           2001    $4,474,000

1997       $ 1,815,000           2002    $5,425,015