by Sandy » Mon Oct 27, 2014 4:13 pm
I have always had difficulty with the state convention level of the SBC bureaucracy. Ever since a college buddy of mine became a "consultant" in one of the larger state conventions, due to his Dad's prominent presence on the trustee board in charge of his area of service, and spoke openly about how "easy" the job was, how little time he spent in the office, telling his administrative assistant he was "going to a meeting" or a consulting event, and then meeting friends and playing golf, and the use of a rather generous expense account for a lot of personal perks. He was aiming in that direction while in college, got a two-year seminary degree and spent 25 years living off the Cooperative Program at a salary that most pastors in his state wouldn't have dreamed of getting, along with perks like his kids getting free tuition at the convention's colleges, use of a rental car traveling to his "consulting" sessions, usually in churches, and a "required" week of mission service, usually international, at convention expense. He once offered to "help" me get my name in the hat for a similar position in the state office, heading up Men's mission ministries (an almost non-existent field these days) and Disaster Relief.
Other than the colleges and universities, of which most are tuition-driven and receive very little financial support from the convention, and the usual assortment of children's homes, old folks homes, and church planting, what do state conventions really do? I think most could decrease staff by half or more, still have the relationships and governance of the institutions, and let the money go to international missions with little change.