Messengers to the Nov. 12–13 Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting at Eastern Shore Baptist Church in Daphne approved a $37.5 million Cooperative Program allocation budget for 2025, re-elected all current officers to a second one-year term and launched a new resource to help alleviate the pastor shortage in the state.
The budget is up $500,000 over the 2024 budget and maintains the 50–50 percentage allocation between Southern Baptist Convention and state convention-related Great Commission missions and ministries.
Special offering goals
Messengers also approved the following 2025 special offering goals, all of which are the same amount as last year:
- Lottie Moon Christmas Offering: $12 million
- Annie Armstrong Easter Offering: $6 million
- Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries: $3 million
- Myers-Mallory State Missions Offering: $1.2 million
- World Hunger Offering: $800,000
In other financial updates, Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said Alabama Baptists will give Mission:Dignity recipients three extra checks in 2025 funded by interest income, similar to what was done in 2024.
Mission:Dignity helps retirement-age Southern Baptist ministers and widows who are struggling to pay for their basic needs, like housing, food and medication.
State convention officers
State convention president Craig Carlisle, who serves as director of missions for Etowah Baptist Association in the Gadsden, Alabama, area, was re-elected without opposition as were the two vice presidents.
Jarman Leatherwood, pastor of House of Hope and Restoration Church in Huntsville, Alabama, was re-elected first vice president, and Ryan Whitley, pastor of CrossPoint Church in Trussville, Alabama, was re-elected second vice president.
Also re-elected were Debbie Oliver as recording secretary and Mike Jackson as statistical secretary and registration secretary. Oliver and Jackson both serve on staff of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
DifferenceMakers theme
The 201st annual meeting of Alabama Baptists also included various presentations featuring the meeting’s theme of DifferenceMakers.
State convention entities and auxiliaries shared how their ministries are making a difference, and ministry volunteers in the areas of disaster relief and missions were honored.
Mark Wakefield, state disaster relief strategist, presented the Tommy Puckett Award for Excellence to Dan Wiggins, associational missionary for Pleasant Grove Baptist Association (a little west of the Birmingham metro area) and state disaster relief chaplain coordinator.
Scotty Goldman, director of the SBOM office of global missions, presented the Volunteer of the Year award to two missions volunteers — Debra Abston and Kimberly Posey, both members of Highland Baptist Church in Gordo, Alabama. The two have served together in many missions endeavors locally and globally and were nominated by Pickens Baptist Association’s Claren Dease.
Pastor shortage ‘crisis’
A major focus for Carlisle during his year as president — and continuing into his second year in the role — is that of the pastor shortage “crisis.”
“Here in Alabama, we have 3,162 churches, and presently 501 of our churches do not have pastors,” he shared during his president’s address. “That represents 16% of our churches.”
Nearly 90 percent of pastorless churches are smaller congregations that need bivocational or part-time ministers, he added.
Carlisle led an effort to develop a Calling Out the Called emphasis that was launched during the annual meeting.
Kevin Blackwell, disciple-making/teaching pastor at The Station Church in Bessemer, Alabama, is part of the Calling Out the Called Alabama team and shared a report on the new web-based resource with messengers during the Nov. 12 afternoon session.
Blackwell hopes the new strategy will be a “game changer for our churches,” many of which are congregations that average less than 75 in worship and are seeking bivocational pastors.
“There is a growing number of open ministerial positions, particularly bivocational [ones], and a diminishing number of people responding to a call to ministry,” Blackwell said.
Resolutions adopted
In other business, messengers heard a report on how sexual abuse prevention measures are going in the state and adopted five resolutions.
They are:
Resolution 1:
On the centennial
anniversary of the
Cooperative Program
That Alabama Baptists continue to affirm the Cooperative Program as the primary method of funding “our Great Commission cooperation at home and abroad” and that “we ascribe … glory to God … and are grateful … for all who promote and support [it].”
Resolution 2:
On gender identity
and Title IX
Affirms “God’s design that gender identity is determined by biological sex, irrevocably embedded in one’s DNA, from conception to the present … (and) denounce the risk and unfairness to the privacy of restrooms and locker rooms being breached by persons whose DNA does not match the sex indicated on the facility entrance.”
Also, “we oppose … altering Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 … (and seek to) extend love and compassion to individuals experiencing … conflict between their biological sex and self-perception … (and) commend all efforts by any governing official or body to stand for biblical understanding of gender identity.”
Resolution 3:
On affirmation of Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief
Affirms and celebrates the work of Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief and encourages continued support.
Resolution 4:
On affirmation for the
Supreme Court of Alabama
Appreciation to the Supreme Court of Alabama “for standing for the sacredness and protection of human life” with the “human life begins at conception” ruling on Feb. 16, 2024.
Resolution 5:
On appreciation
Expresses gratitude to the Lord and to all those who served Him during the 2024 Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting held at Eastern Shore Baptist Church in Daphne.
Variety of sermons
The convention sermon was delivered by Ben Bowden, pastor of First Baptist Church Enterprise, Alabama, and Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, shared the Tuesday night featured sermon.
Additionally, former state convention presidents and new pastors and church staff members were recognized during the opening session.
Presenting the DifferenceMakers theme interpretations throughout the annual meeting were Rob Jackson, director of evangelism and church revitalization for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions; Seth Hood, pastor of First Baptist Church Colbert Heights, Alabama; and Albert Williams, pastor of St. James Baptist Church in Dothan, Alabama.
In other news
A total of 830 people representing 358 churches were present for the state convention annual meeting — 660 messengers and 170 guests.
The 2025 annual meeting will be held Nov. 11–12 at Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
