Dean Haun, pastor of Jonesboro's First Baptist Church and chairman of the Georgia Baptist Convention Budget Planning Committee, presented the proposed 2005 Cooperative Program budget of $48,750,000 for the GBC at the September 14 meeting of the Executive Committee. Haun explained that the budget represented a 4.84% increase over the current year's budget, and that present giving trends indicate that the budget goal is realistic and reachable.

GBC Executive Director J. Robert White pointed out that Georgia continues to be the leader among all state conventions in gifts sent to the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Committee, in turn, distributes the receipts to the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board, the six seminaries and the Ethics and Religious Life Commission.

The most recent report indicates that the GBC had given $19,126,262 to the denomination. The Alabama Baptist Convention placed second with gifts of $16,449,234.

The GBC is also a leader in percentage of gifts to the national convention. In presenting his recommendation Haun noted the Kingdom vision incumbent in the proposed budget and declared, "If we will take care of the Kingdom, God will take care of the church."

The budget was unanimously approved by the Executive Committee and will be presented to the convention at the annual meeting in College Park, November 15-16.

 

Inspiring reports

Among several inspiring reports was one by Robert Wilson, pastor of Sandtown Baptist Church in Atlanta. Wilson heads up a task force to study the involvement of ethnic and African-American ministries in the life of the convention.

He indicated that African-American churches are the fastest growing churches in the Georgia Baptist Convention and emphasized the importance of "having ethnics at the table of decision making and on leadership teams".

Frank Upchurch, president and chief executive officer of the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation, introduced a serendipitous moment when he announced that the Foundation was contributing $3 million to the construction of the new Baptist Center on Sugarloaf Parkway. Upchurch indicated that the gift would be provided for the chapel to be named in memory of Georgia Baptist legend, Louie D. Newton.

Newton was the pastor of only one church for his entire pastoral ministry, Druid Hills Baptist Church of Atlanta, where he served for 39 years. The pastor also became known as Mr. Baptist and mentored four generations of preachers, writers and denominational leaders.

Newton graduated from Mercer University at 21 years of age and was hired to the faculty on the day of his graduation. He served as the editor of The Christian Index from January 1920 to November 1929. It was during his last year as editor of The Index that Newton was called to be pastor of the Druid Hills church where he was serving as a deacon.

The influential pastor served as moderator of the Atlanta Baptist Association, president of the GBC, and in 1946 was elected president of the SBC. During his two-year tenure as SBC president the Convention established Golden Gate Seminary. The Kansas and Oregon state conventions were also admitted to the SBC fold during his years of service and it was a time of unprecedented expansion for the denomination