MBCH finances stay positive

Investments up, expenses down

BRIDGETON – The Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH) Board of Trustees met for their regularly scheduled board meeting April 24 at their main campus just west of St. Louis.

The MBCH is an agency of the Missouri Baptist Convention. For more than 120 years, it has offered services in adoption, foster care, crisis care and pregnancy counseling from a Christian perspective. In 2006 it served 3,466 clients, investing 93,938 man-hours of service. It receives more than $539,000 from the Cooperative Program and $136,000 from the Rheubin L. South Missouri Missions Offering.

Trustees received a positive audit report for their 2006 financial year, and the report was approved. This year is looking good financially for the Children’s Home as well, although year-to-date income from bequests and wills is down more than half a million from last year, $35,716 (2007) vs. $552,912 (2006). Officials said the first quarter of 2006 was far above average and that they are working to meet their $3.5 million budget.

Although wills and bequests are coming in at a slower pace than last year, investment income is 500 percent ahead of pace and expenses so far have run 20 percent under the 2006 total.

Other than the standard approval of minutes and reports, no business was brought before the board.

In his comments to the board, MBCH President Raymond “Bob” Kenison paid tribute to a former a board member and pastor of First Baptist Church of Wright City. Werner Strick was a founding board member of the MBCH Professional Development Institute and served on the MBCH board for more than 30 years. He died in February after a lengthy battle with cancer.

“All of us are aware of the fact that Werner is gone,” Kenison said. “He really wanted any memorial gifts that came in for him to go to the plaza out front.”

The new plaza that marks the entrance to the Bridgeton campus is full of bricks engraved with the donors who helped finance the project. Now, an entire corner will testify to Strick’s love and dedication to the Children’s Home.

“Werner was not a rich man and First Baptist Church is not a huge church,” Kenison said, “but they found ways to serve the Lord over and over again and to be a blessing to the MBCH.”