WMU needs a visible bridge

By Norman Jameson

Woman's Missionary Union needs a visible bridge like Indiana Jones on the trail of the Holy Grail.

Faced with leaving the security of the mountain on which he stood in favor of the next cliff where he was certain he must go he had to step out over a chasm with no assurance his foot would settle on anything but thin air.

His foot did find an invisible bridge and he scurried across. When he reached the other side, he threw sand over the bridge so he could find his way back.

WMU is moving toward another mountain from which there is no going back.

Following an intensive three-year study of their organization and purpose, they sought a clearer identity with the Baptist State Convention and in April 2006 changed the term defining their relationship from "auxiliary" to "cooperative partner" and affirmed their autonomy in staff hiring.

Problem was, they didn't talk to their "cooperative partner" before making the changes and that initiated 16 months of strained dialog resulting in their move from the Convention office building.

The Baptist State Convention did not start WMU, which organized in the Biblical Recorder editor's office Jan. 8, 1886. North Carolina's WMU is the largest of any state, and is growing. It has directors in 2,603 churches, or 74 percent of the 3,500 churches that contributed to the work of BSCNC last year. It started 241 new organizations in 132 churches in the past year and added 12 more in the 48 hours after the story broke about their move.

WMU members give sacrificially, lead others to give and lead their churches to support Cooperative Program Missions Giving and other special offerings at a higher level than churches without WMU organizations. They are an asset to the work of North Carolina Baptists and they resent any implication they are a fiscal liability.

WMU wants North Carolina Baptists to conclude the only thing changing is their address. After all, they will continue to do exactly what they've been doing - serving North Carolina Baptist churches. The fact they want freedom also to serve other churches and the fact that personnel autonomy triggered the final decision to move out will be an issue for those who hold the purse.

The hard reality is that WMU is stepping toward a new location with no financial bridge beneath their feet. They hope the Baptist State Convention will continue to fund them at the same level through the North Carolina Missions Offering, which WMU vigorously promotes.

Some transition dollars to establish new offices would be nice and in order, but none are guaranteed. The estimated $400,000 in goods and services WMU now receives by having its offices in the Convention building is not all cash. It includes 2,600 square feet of space, utilities, technical support, telephones, etc. - items they will need cash to purchase or lease elsewhere.

WMU has no financial guarantees from the Convention beyond the 2007 NCMO percentages. They did not build big cash reserves because they raised money for missions and put that money to work. A recent development effort for special projects hardly paid for itself.

WMU owns the buildings at Camp Mundo Vista and holds leases from the Baptist State Convention for the land on which they sit through 2091 - at a total cost of $2.

Three potential hazards need warning lights:

1. WMU will face financial difficulty if it has overestimated its support.

2. The BSC could face financial difficulty if somehow churches see the WMU move as a referendum and vote against the Convention with their dollars.

3. Churches could be rocked if this action pits local WMU volunteers against their church staffs, especially if WMU-NC is forced to start a separate offering for self-support.

There can be a win-win if Convention leadership employs grace when dealing with this change, and both parties "look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4)

I trust the Convention will do what it can to ease the transition and encourage WMU in its mission support ministry.