October 2, 2026
“(Discord, Disorganization and Disintegration) . . . caused by a failure on the part of some of the brethren to appreciate the seriousness of the condition of the Mission Board and the consequent inability of the Board to do some things that had been demanded of it.” — Arch Cree, First State Mission Board Report, November 1915
The summer of 1914 was a low point for the Georgia Baptist State Mission Board. The Mission Board was broke, out of money, and deeply in debt. Banks had given them a poor credit rating, refusing to provide a short-term operational loan. State Missionaries and support staff paychecks were being delayed, and missionaries were being laid off. Adding to the crisis, there was an international economic recession reflected by a downturn in mission giving.
H.R. Bernard, the 71-year-old interim Corresponding Secretary (Executive Director) who had earned the love and trust of Georgia Baptists, had his hands full. Confidence was rapidly evaporating in the ability of the State Mission Board to manage mission offerings and resources. Amid this season of uncertainty and transition, two leaders emerged to help restore confidence in the State Mission Board.
The first leader was John Dagg Mell (1865-1952), who was elected President of the Georgia Baptist Convention in 1912. Serving from 1912-1929, he was the last of the long-term presidents to serve the Convention. Mell brought unique skillsets to the position. In that era, the president was elected in large part based on his skill as a parliamentarian. Mell was a bi-vocational pastor, lawyer, and a law professor at the University of Georgia.
Mell, using his parliamentary knowledge, responded to the crisis by invoking “executive privilege” as the President of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He appointed an emergency task force called “The Committee of Five.” The purpose of this committee was to restore credibility and confidence in the financial operations of the convention. They were empowered to deal with short-term problems and develop recommendations for long-term solutions.
Three Georgia Baptist laymen, all respected successful businessmen, including a future governor, along with Mell and the corresponding secretary would compose the committee. Included with their emergency powers was the ability to remove any trustee of an affiliated ministry who was not supporting the actions of the GBC to deal with the financial crisis. In other words, renegade trustees who had been creating new, unauthorized debts, which ultimately became the responsibility of the Mission Board.
They further addressed the problems of unauthorized loans by creating a “Holding Commission.” This body collected and held the deeds to the properties of the schools and institutions. Without the deeds, those entities lacked the collateral to create new debts. Any future debts would require the approval of the State Mission Board or the Convention.
Breaking from State Mission Board precedent, an “Emergency Appeal” was made on behalf of state missions. Emergency appeals had been overused by other ministries, and the State Mission Board had made it a point not to “beg for money.” Despite the poor economy, Georgia Baptists responded in the late summer and fall of 1914. The State Missions Offerings in October 1914, doubled the previous year, were the best the convention had ever received.
At the same time, convention leadership understood the emergency appeal was not a long-term solution. As simple as that sentiment may appear, it represented a profound shift in thinking. Quick fixes would not solve long-term problems facing the Mission Board. As anticipated, state mission giving dropped off dramatically in the early months of 1915 following the special appeal, but groundwork was being put in place for a long-term solution.
In May 1915, the second leader who would have a profound impact was the new Corresponding Secretary, 43-year-old Arch C. Cree (1872-1944). (For more on the life of Arch Cree, see this article.) A native of Scotland, his vision for Georgia Baptists was a simple two-word statement spoken with a Scottish brogue... “Redeem Georgia!” During his 15-year tenure with the State Mission Board, Cree would help lead both the GBC and SBC into the modern era of missions.
As the Committee of Five continued to work on a long-term solution, a short-term campaign focused on evangelism and debt retirement was launched by Cree in the fall of 1915. It was called “The Redeem Georgia Campaign.” The impact of this campaign was to unite Georgia Baptists in an evangelistic effort while addressing debts.
This was followed by a two-year emphasis launched in 1916-1918 called the “Half-Million Campaign.” The Half-Million Campaign, launched by the Committee of Five, was an effort to eliminate the heavy debt of the Mission Board and the institutions of the GBC, including catching up on SBC causes (Home Mission Board, Foreign Mission Board, and Southern Seminary).
There were several conditions for those who wanted to be a part of this effort. The dollar amounts of the existing debts of all the affiliated ministries were submitted, which helped to establish the half-million-dollar goal. Each agency had to agree to support the overall campaign effort with limited independent solicitation of funds for their ministries during the campaign. Finally, they must agree that they would not create any new debt. Funds were to be held by the State Mission Board to be distributed after the campaign ended. The first year of the campaign went well, but entering the second year there was a challenge to the unified effort. The Children’s Home had created new debt which it wanted to be included in the campaign. In the past, the Children’s Home had used the business model of “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”
If they were granted permission to do so, it might lead to the breakdown of the campaign with everybody returning to a competitive “every man for himself” society approach to mission support. The Committee of Five responded by telling them that if there was any more debt created that they would not receive any of the funds being collected, and that those funds being held would be returned to those who gave them. The Children’s Home backed down, and the path to a cooperative, unified approach to dealing with finances was secured.
The campaign was an overwhelming success, with the debts, excluding a portion of the largest debt, Mercer University, being eliminated. By the time the campaign was ending, plans were already being made for a “five-year financial program” (75 Million Campaign), and the balance of the Mercer debt was to be included in that effort.
After the SBC met in Atlanta in 1918, representatives from each state remained to formalize a plan for the national SBC campaign. Arch Cree represented Georgia. In 1923, Cree wrote in his State Missions Report that most of the concepts of the Half-Million Campaign had been included in the 75 Million Campaign. Although Cree had recommended one change which they did not adopt, suggesting that instead of a five-year campaign with fixed goals, there would be a five-year effort, with renewable goals being set each year. That change ultimately was included in the proposed Cooperative Program.
The work of Bernard, who passed away in 1916, Mell, Cree, and the Committee of Five helped to unify Georgia Baptists. Their efforts resulted in a radical cooperative effort to eliminate debts and ultimately a new model to fund mission support. The Half-Million Campaign was the model for the 75 Million Campaign. Their efforts led to the competitive society-based system of mission support being replaced with a cooperative convention-based system.
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The next feature in this series will explore the lessons Georgia Baptists had learned over two successive debt campaigns (1916-1924) about the value of cooperative giving. It will also explore the joint recommendation from a Georgia Task Force and the SBC Executive Committee to the SBC in 1924 called “The Georgia Plan.”
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