By Staff
RAYTOWN—By vote of messengers to the 175th annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) at First Baptist Church here, there will be two giving plans in the official MBC budget as of Jan. 1.
A letter of information explaining the plans and a redesigned remittance form will be sent to the churches around Dec. 1. If a church wishes to opt for Plan B, then it must vote on that in some fashion or form to decide. Unmarked checks will go toward Plan A.
“The churches don’t need to call us to inform us of their decision,” said Jay Hughes, MBC associate executive director. “They just need to send in their remittance forms or designate on their checks which plan they are going for.”
Plan A will direct 3 percent of budgeted funds toward the Agency Restoration Fund (ARF) to cover legal fees involved in the recovery of five breakaway agencies. Plan B will allow churches to direct those same funds to the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (1 percent) and Christian Higher Education (2 percent) instead. The default mechanism is Plan A.
Three amendments to alter the formula failed.