Updated Friday, April 11, 2008

WMU-NC: Stop the falsehoods

By Steve DeVane

BR Managing Editor

A Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina (WMU-NC) leader asked the Baptist State Convention (BSC) Executive Committee to help stop "rumors" and "falsehoods" being spread about WMU-NC.

Sandra James, president of WMU-NC, made the appeal for help during the WMU-NC report at the BSC Executive Committee meeting April 10 in Cary.

"I ask you, if you are part of this or you are being told these things, come to us for answers," she said.

The relationship between the WMU-NC and the BSC has been awkward since WMU-NC decided to assert its autonomy and move out of the Baptist Building in Cary. WMU-NC leaders say the group intends to keep serving N.C. Baptists.

One example of a falsehood being spread is that WMU-NC gets a percentage of the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, James said.

"That blew my mind," she said. "We are the promoters."

John Butler, the BSC's executive leader for business services, said he got a message during the meeting from someone asking what percentage of the offering goes to the BSC and what part goes to WMU. Butler said he would let the person know that all the money from the offering goes to the North American Mission Board.

"If we were spending as much time witnessing as some people are spending gossiping, think of all the people we'd win to Christ," James said.

Butler also answered other questions about WMU-NC during the meeting. He said that the organization had not overspent its budget last year, but instead ended up with a deficit because North Carolina Missions Offering receipts were not as high as expected.

The BSC absorbed that loss, as it has in previous years, Butler said. Since 2000, WMU-NC had a total deficit of about $269,000, he said.

James said that in years that WMU-NC had received more than expected from the offering, the organization had given the overage back to the BSC.

Butler said that was included in his figures.

Despite the challenges, WMU-NC continues to be blessed, according to James. In the past year, 138 new organizations were started, seven more Christian Women's Job Corps sites were opened and five WMU-NC mission trips are planned this summer, she said.

WMU-NC plans to move out of the Baptist Building the week of April 14, James said.

Butler said the BSC has been accommodating to WMU-NC's move, letting the group take equipment and furniture it needed. James said the organization appreciated it.