The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board voted to take initial steps to create a Texas Baptist insurance program to enable churches to secure affordable property and casualty, liability and similar insurance coverage.
At its Sept. 23–24 meeting, the board authorized the BGCT to create a corporation to make church insurance available and provide the initial capitalization of an insurance reserve, pending executive committee approval of a feasibility study and approval by messengers to Texas Baptists’ annual meeting.
Since several major insurance carriers have left the Texas market, many churches either have been unable to renew their policies or have been saddled with steep premium and deductible increases.
Feasibility study
The BGCT is already are conducting a feasibility study to explore the possibility of forming a captive insurance pool for partnering churches — a practice some schools and nonprofit organizations already have adopted.
The insurance pool would be administered through a new corporation under BGCT control, and it would function like a co-op.
The baseline premiums are expected to be about 30% less than similar insurance on the open market, said Keith Warren, chair of the board’s administrative support committee and executive pastor of North Side Baptist Church in Weatherford. The corporation is expected to be self-sustaining.
Legal requirements demand capitalization of at least 25% of the first year’s premiums — projected at between $1.5 million and $5 million, depending on anticipated initial participation.
The Executive Board also elected new officers for the next year — Heath Kirkwood, pastor of First Baptist Church Lorena, as chair and Suzie Liner, a retired physician and member of First Baptist Church Lubbock, as vice chair.
Sexual Abuse Task Force presents report
Janice Bloom, incumbent vice chair of the Executive Board and member of First Baptist Church Garland, reported on the work of Texas Baptists’ Sexual Abuse Task Force, formed in May 2023.
The task force looked at preventative measures and best practices for how churches can respond to sexual abuse, she said. The revised section on the BGCT’s website devoted to sexual abuse response will go live on Monday, Sept. 30, with resources in English and Spanish.
In addition to making available a variety of training materials through MinistrySafe, the proposed 2025 BGCT budget includes funds to provide any BGCT church dealing with a sexual abuse issue one hour of consultation with a MinistrySafe attorney.
Other recommendations included developing resources to help churches implement a comprehensive church safety team; develop a model policy for dealing with sex offenders who wish to attend church; develop a code of conduct for staff, board members, volunteers and others related to Texas Baptists; amend the BGCT bylaws to provide disciplinary measures for any Executive Board member who violates the code of conduct; and review the personnel policy manual to address sexual abuse prevention.
Steve Bezner, pastor of Houston Northwest Church, made a motion to create an implementation task force to ensure the recommendations from the Sexual Abuse Task Force are followed. The implementation task force will be appointed by the new chair and vice chair of the Executive Board.
To read full report, click here.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Ken Camp and originally published by Baptist Standard.
