By Ken Walker
State Correspondent
Paducah—First Baptist Church of Paducah posted a $26,000 budget surplus for the first four months of 2008, an optimistic sign reflected by other Kentucky Baptist churches and associations.
A wire story earlier this year about a LifeWay Research study showed that 76 percent of Southern Baptist churches were at or above this year’s budget targets, a pattern that appears to be duplicated in Kentucky.
Since LifeWay did not offer a breakdown for the state, the Western Recorder recently contacted nine churches and associations across the commonwealth. Only one reported its undesignated receipts were down over last year, and its overall income was in the black.
Pastors and directors of missions attributed Kentucky Baptists’ giving to various factors, such as faithfulness to God’s Word, generosity and responding to needs amid skyrocketing gasoline prices and food inflation.
“I think there is an element of faithfulness,” said Todd Brady, pastor of First Baptist, Paducah. “When a need arises, people rush to meet it. I’m pleased our people are so eager to give.”
The congregation’s 2008 surplus follows a record-setting 2007 when the Paducah church saw a surplus of more than $700,000. It donated most of that to missions causes, local ministries and Tennessee’s Union University to help repair tornado damage sustained in February.
The current year’s results are better than they appear, since First Baptist has kept expenses below projections, church administrator Dean Carpenter noted.
“Utilities, paper products and gasoline are a small portion of our budget,” he explained. “However, we haven’t really hit our driving season yet, so we could (end up) over our budget for transportation.”
Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington had a healthy surplus through the first four months of 2008, taking in more than $5,000 over budget needs. That record came despite its ongoing pledge campaign to retire debt for its new, 600-seat sanctuary, which opened in March.
Accountant Steve Cummins said Ashland Avenue has collected $900,000 of its $1.3 million in pledges, with donations running about $100,000 ahead of projections.
“Generous people,” he said when asked for the reason behind the encouraging reports. “We haven’t had to cut back on anything yet.”
Giving this year is up by three percent at Second Baptist Church of Hopkinsville, which last year enjoyed a surplus of $49,000.
Pastor Larry Purcell said the church also collected enough money to pay for installation of an elevator and remodeling the sanctuary and foyer in 2007.
“I was almost surprised,” Purcell said of the increased giving. “I keep hearing about the fear factor, but what I see people cutting back on is travel vacations and some things they can do without instead of church.”
Despite being without a senior pastor since last August, Highland Hills Baptist Church in Fort Thomas saw a surplus of nearly $300 through the early part of the year, according to Associate Pastor Brent Reed.
The giving record is particularly encouraging because attendance declined significantly the past two years after three key staff members departed, Reed pointed out. Those in the close-knit community who remained have “taken ownership” and are determined to see the church survive, the associate pastor indicated.
“We have a very giving congregation, a congregation that understands tithing and thinks it’s an act of worship,” he said. “Giving our resources to God’s work is a continuation of worship. It’s something you do like singing on Sunday morning.
“I haven’t heard a lot of talk about the changing economy. People haven’t said, ‘I can’t tithe because gas prices are up this week.’”
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Ky. associations and churches consider economic alternatives
By Ken Walker
State Correspondent
Berea—Even though Tates Creek Baptist Association’s 2008 receipts are in good shape, Director of Missions Hamilton Valentine is keeping a wary eye on the gasoline pump.
As prices hovered around $4 per gallon this summer, Valentine considered cutting some events for the coming year from the associational calendar.
“I feel people will start skipping some meetings if gas keeps going up,” Valentine said. “I’m sure that’s going to affect people’s pocketbook (and) it may affect participation.”
That means the DOM had to consider whether to continue scheduling lightly-attended events, such as a fishing tournament at Lake Cumberland back in May, where the director was the only man in sight. The men’s prayer breakfast in March rarely draws more than 25, similar to a recent children’s “Fun Fest” usually held on the first Saturday in August.
On the other hand, the association’s wild game dinner in January attracted more than 200 and a salad dinner in the spring sponsored by Woman’s Missionary Union drew 112 participants.
“I have to think of this when budgeting, especially with the price of gas,” Valentine noted. “I’m in my 11th year and last year was the first time I overspent my travel budget.”
Rodney Cude of Ohio River Baptist Association also kept a close eye on expenditures as he worked on plans for the 2008-2009 fiscal year budget.
“You kind of watch everything,” the director of missions explained. “We just did our budget for next year and one thing we discussed was the need to keep it lean.
“If we looked at a ministry that had $1,000 set aside for them the last four years and hadn’t spent it, we asked, ‘Why are we still setting aside for it?’”
As the Salem-based association prepared for a mission trip in late June, Cude said he was hopeful churches would be generous with donations to help defray gasoline costs.
Although Ohio River Association received a $1,000 grant from the Eliza Broadus Offering for State Missions for the trip, those funds could only be spent on materials to benefit residents in Eastern Kentucky.
At Second Baptist Church of Hopkinsville, Pastor Larry Purcell said the main tightening of expenditures has come in its seniors’ ministry. Instead of trips to such locales as Branson, Mo., or the Gulf of Mexico, seniors chose to stay closer to home, the pastor noted.
“There’s just a caution and a fear about making too many plans to travel that far,” he added. “Two families told me they weren’t taking long trips this year.”
Although needing to keep expenditures in line because of its $11,000 budget shortage, things were even worse last year at Horse Cave Baptist Church.
Pastor Kevin Denton said the congregation experienced a cash flow shortage after hiring a maintenance worker for the church and bills added up quicker than expected.
“We stopped maintenance spending and had trustees do it,” Denton recalled. “Money had never been a problem. I don’t know why giving dropped. It just seemed to dry up. We said, ‘Something’s got to change.’”
One method the church implemented was purchasing a high-deductible health insurance policy and setting aside funds in a health savings account to pay for minor medical bills.
Last year Denton said he was the only staff member covered under that plan. After saving $3,000 over the cost of a conventional policy, Horse Cave Baptist extended it to two others this year and expects to save $5,000.
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Horse Cave Baptist Church reported a mixed bag for the first four months of 2008. Although it ended that period about $11,000 behind budget, offerings were $1,360 higher than for the same time a year ago.
Pastor Kevin Denton said he has tried to teach tithing to newcomers, partially through other members sharing testimonies.
Denton’s ministry assistant told him that numerous people had increased their giving gradually this year, which added up.
“Folks have continued to give,” Denton noted. “I think people are responding to the need. I say if you’re obedient to tithing and gas is $10 a gallon, it shouldn’t affect anything.”
Even with increasing gasoline and food prices, the church has not had to make any adjustments so far this year, he added, although Denton said that could change if costs continue to rise.
However, at Enterprise Baptist Association in Prestonsburg, Director of Missions Tom Biddle had to double the association’s travel budget halfway through its fiscal year.
Fortunately, Biddle pointed out that income has held steady, increasing between two and three percent.
“I don’t know if I have an explanation,” Biddle said of the increase. “I think people sense the need of what’s going on. I’ve not had to change a whole lot because of the economy.
“It’s a positive sign,” he added. “The thing that helps us most of all is we give back to our churches. They see a positive return of what we’re trying to do for them.”
In Berea, Tates Creek Baptist Association is running a surplus.
Receipts for the five-month period starting last December were up by 32 percent over the previous year, despite a few churches decreasing contributions because of building campaigns, according to DOM Hamilton Valentine.
“I think God’s people are committed to tithing,” he said of the optimistic picture. “Givers are going to continue to find a way to give. Those who aren’t givers are going to cut it out. If I can cut back on some other things, I’m not going to cut back on my tithe.”
Although undesignated receipts were running three percent behind last year for Ohio River Baptist Association, its director of missions said interest income and designated offerings helped boost its income above projected budget needs.
“We haven’t had any budget adjustments this year and I don’t expect to make any,” Rodney Cude said.
Western Recorder issue date: August 12, 2008
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