Messengers approve $190 million CP allocation budget, business and financial plan, other items

DALLAS (BP) — Messengers to the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting approved a $190 million 2025-26 Cooperative Program allocation budget Wednesday, giving the Executive Committee a one-time $3 million special allotment for legal costs arising from investigations into its handling of sexual abuse claims.

The $3 million covers a deficit in the EC and SBC operating budget in the current fiscal year, with total operating revenue of $9,131,500 against operating expenses of $12,281,000, according to the budget summary recorded in the 2025 SBC Book of Reports.

All 11 recommendations the EC submitted were approved, most without discussion, save the Business and Financial plan that survived an attempt to require entities to disclose financial information disclosed on the IRS form 990.

An amendment by Rhett Burns, pastor of First Baptist Church of Travelers Rest, S.C., to require such disclosures was rejected. Burns sought to require entities to disclose, he said, “information like top executive compensation, information about conflicts of interest, top contractors, how much they’re paying lawyers, all information that is just the regular normal scope of information that non-profits disclose.”

SBC EC President and CEO Jeff Iorg advised messengers to reject the amendment.

“The Southern Baptist Convention, through Southwestern Seminary’s leadership several decades ago, fought an extensive legal battle to establish that we have First Amendment protections from such invasive reporting as is required by the 990,” Iorg told messengers. “We stand on that today and assure you that we are not trying to hide behind that ruling, but we are instead defending that ruling and upholding that ruling and wanting to stand within it.

“And voluntarily offering that kind of information sends a signal that we find ourselves in some way subject to the federal government oversight, which none of us want to have,” Iorg said. “The adoption of this amendment will also set up legal conflicts between entities and you,” and would release information to messengers they would have no power to change.

The amendment failed after several minutes of discussion, with messengers approving the Business and Financial Plan as recorded on pages 46-50 of the 2025 Book of Reports.

On budgetary recommendations, messengers approved a 2025-26 EC and SBC operating budget of $12.068 million, with $3 million covering the cost of the annual meeting, $125,000 covering SBC governance and oversight, $4.037 million allotted to SBC operations, and $4.905 million committed to EC ministry assignments and operations. The EC and SBC will incur a deficit of $222,000.

Nearly three-fourths of the CP budget, 73.20% or $136.884 million, goes to national and worldwide missions, including 50.41% or $94,266,700 for the International Mission Board and 22.79% or $42,617,300 for the North American Mission Board, according to the budget passed by messengers.

More than a fifth of the budget, 21.92% or $40,990,400, supports the six Southern Baptist seminaries, based on a specified formula:

• Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, $9,615,271, or 5.14% of the CP budget;
• Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, $9,136,968, or 4.89% of the CP budget;
• New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, $6,421,117, or 3.43%;
• Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, $6,009,164, or 3.21%;
• Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, $5,797,720, or 3.10%;
• Gateway Seminary, $4,010,160, or 2.14%.

In other actions, messengers:

• Amended Article XIV of the SBC Constitution to allow amendments to the Convention’s statement of faith by a vote of two-thirds of the messengers present and voting at the time the vote is taken, provided that an amendment shall be so approved by two (2) consecutive annual meetings of the Convention.

• Amended SBC Bylaw 15 regarding the Committee on Nominations, requiring that persons nominated shall represent the constituency of the Convention, rather than the staff of the entity of the board. Any person elected to serve on any of the boards, institutions, commissions, the Executive Committee, or Convention standing committees shall affirm the Convention’s adopted statement of faith.

• Amended SBC Bylaw 20 regarding the Committee on Resolutions, requiring that recommended resolutions be submitted to the committee for review and consideration as early as March 15 but no later than May 15; the initial report of the Committee on Resolutions shall be released no later than seven (7) days prior to the annual meeting of the Convention, and the final report shall be published in the first day’s Bulletin.

• Approved St. Louis, Mo., as the replacement site for the 2028 SBC Annual Meeting, contingent upon satisfactory contract negotiations with the convention center and area hotels, moving it from the previously approved site of Indianapolis, Ind. The convention dates would remain June 13-14, 2028.

• Approved San Antonio, Texas, as the site of the 2029 and 2036 SBC annual meetings, contingent upon satisfactory contract negotiations with the convention center and area hotels, with meeting dates of June 12-13, 2029, and June 10-11, 2036.

• Approved St. Louis, Mo., as the site for the 2033 and 2038 SBC annual meetings, contingent upon satisfactory contract negotiations with the convention center and area hotels, with meeting dates of June 14-15, 2033, and June 15-16, 2038.

• Approved Indianapolis, Ind., as the replacement site for the 2027 SBC annual meeting, contingent upon satisfactory contract negotiations with the convention center and area hotels, with the meeting slated for June 15-16, 2027. The meeting, formerly slated for Salt Lake City, Utah, had to be moved because a land sale will require the destruction of the convention center there.

• Approved Indianapolis as the site for the 2031 SBC annual meeting, contingent upon satisfactory contract negotiations with the convention center and area hotels, with the meeting slated for June 10-11, 2031.

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This story appeared in Baptist Press.