Every organization is accountable to someone. Public traded companies are accountable to their shareholders. Local businesses are accountable to their customers. Governmental agencies are accountable to voters.
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is accountable to the churches it exists to serve.
I recently received a letter from a KBC-affiliated church asking thoughtful questions about our organizational accountability. This letter came from a faithful partner who expressed appreciation for the work we do together and asked questions to assure we are being good stewards of the resources entrusted to us.
I am grateful for the letter and viewed it as an opportunity to highlight the careful and thoughtful organizational accountability practiced by the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
Below are the questions that were asked and our attempt to respond to those:
1. What is your mission? The Kentucky Baptist Convention, organized in 1837, was “created by churches for churches to help churches reach Kentucky and the world for Christ.” We view ourselves as a service organization that supports the well-being of Kentucky Baptist churches. Our daily prayer is for every KBC church to be a thriving church and for every leader to be a cared for leader.
2. How has the generosity of Baptist churches specifically enabled you to fulfill your mission? Our ministry assignment is an extension of partnering Kentucky Baptist churches. When a church gives through the Cooperative Program, it is funding gospel-advancing ministry in Kentucky and around the world. When KBC churches give through the Cooperative Program they are:
- Supporting 3,600 international missionaries serving in 155 countries, where more than 500 people come to faith in Jesus each day on average
- Starting more than 12,000 new Baptist churches across North America that have been planted since 2010
- Training more than 25,000 men and women for ministry through our six seminaries and Bible colleges
- Caring for approximately 1,200 of Kentucky’s most vulnerable children each year through Sunrise Children’s Services, which has facilitated 738 adoptions since 2006
- Providing disaster relief across the U.S. by keeping more than 2,600 KBC Disaster Relief volunteers trained and ready to respond when needed
- Supporting retired ministry leaders and their widows through Mission Dignity. This past year, 66 Kentucky Baptist ministry couples or widows received financial assistance. Across the nation, Mission Dignity provided monthly support to 2,600 retired workers or widows, distributed more than $10.3 million in assistance and provided an additional $3 million in one-time grants. In Kentucky, recipients also received a 13th check totaling approximately $24,000.
- Helping more than 260,000 Kentucky college students gain gospel access through KBC Campus Ministry
- Helping 25,000 students to attend Crossings Camps
- Providing scholarships for 179 Kentucky Baptist ministry students through the Calling Out the Called Scholarship, helping students attend Clear Creek, Boyce College or Southern Seminary by covering half of their tuition costs
3. Describe your financial oversight — is it governed by an independent board? The Kentucky Baptist Convention is governed by churches through a representative Mission Board made up of approximately 100 Kentucky Baptist pastors and lay leaders from across the state who are recommended to us by their local Baptist Association and then further recommended to the Convention by a Committee on Nominations, also made up of KBC pastors and lay leaders. The Mission Board members, who serve a three-year term, oversee our work by serving on various committees, hearing reports and making decisions regarding the ministry of the KBC.
Daily oversight of all financial matters is managed by an onsite accounting team of trained accounting professionals. The accounting team works under my general supervision and then under the direct supervision of our Associate Executive Director for Convention Operations, Jim Donnell. All financial data is available to those in friendly cooperation with the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
5. What percentage of your budget is administrative overhead? Who sets these percentages? Administrative overhead, 11% of the budget, is calculated as part of our financial budget. The budget is approved by the Mission Board each fiscal year. Administrative overhead is made up primarily of expenses related to Accounting, IT, HR and Communications areas for the KBC.
6. Has there been a recent financial review/audit of your ministry by an outside CPA? If so, what were the results? KBC has a full audit each fiscal year by an outside CPA Firm. The full audit is then presented by the audit firm to an Audit Work Group, a subcommittee of the Business and Finance Committee of the Mission Board. A copy of our audited financials are available upon request. Each year we receive an unqualified opinion, which is a clean audit, stating that the financial statements are fairly presented in all material respects.
7. How can we better partner in your mission? The first way a church can partner with the work of their state convention is by praying for the gospel work we are doing together. The Kentucky WMU, as well as the KBC, often has prayer resources available to help a congregation pray for the missionaries, church plants, seminaries, campus ministry and other ministries that we are funding together through the Cooperative Program.
The second way to partner is through local congregational education on our cooperative approach to missions funding, which has been a core value of our convention since 1837. The KBC offers resources for church leaders to help the congregation better understand the unique work of Southern Baptists through the Cooperative Program. We also provide speakers to visit your church and share about our cooperative ministry in a Sunday School class, a small group, a deacons group, a Missions or Members Meeting or even for Sunday morning service.
The third way to partner, apart from your giving through the Cooperative Program, is to engage directly with some of the work we do together. That direct engagement could happen through:
- KBC Church Planting
- Kentucky Baptist Campus Ministry
- Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief
- KBC equipping gatherings
- Kentucky’s international and national missions partnerships
- Seminary and Bible college scholarships
- Evangelistic efforts
- Replanting a church
- And so many other ways!
I hope these questions and the answers provided are helpful as we continue to work together to reach Kentucky and the world for Christ.
Paul the Apostle wrote to the Philippian congregation in Philippians 1:3-5, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Kentucky Baptists are making a difference in advancing the gospel here at home and around the world. May the Lord be pleased to use our gospel partnership until Jesus returns or calls us home.
