Southern Baptist theological seminaries are facing a crisis
of funding – and Chuck Kelley has a solution.
An annual offering for the seminaries should be established
– and the discarded capital needs budget of the convention should be re-established,
said Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Also, the
percentage of Cooperative Program funds that the six seminaries receive each
year should be increased from 21.4 percent to 22 percent.
Southern Baptist theological seminaries are facing a crisis
of funding – and Chuck Kelley has a solution.
An annual offering for the seminaries should be established
– and the discarded capital needs budget of the convention should be re-established,
said Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Also, the
percentage of Cooperative Program funds that the six seminaries receive each
year should be increased from 21.4 percent to 22 percent.
“Something must be done if the (Southern Baptist) seminaries
are going to be healthy and affordable in the 21st century,” Kelley said
in a recent “white paper” published at www.baptistcenter.com.
“The physical condition of the campuses and the low salaries
of faculty and staff are two issues that cannot be avoided, … The needs of
the school are steadily outpacing the funding from the denomination.”
In his “Roots of a Dilemma: SBC Entities and the Cooperative
Program,” Kelley proposes an annual offering for the seminaries named after
W.A. Criswell, the late pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas.
In addition, Kelley suggested that monies received in excess
of the annual Cooperative Program goal again be allocated to seminaries for
capital needs for at least five years. “The capital needs money could be
limited to repairs, renovation and infrastructure projects, not new buildings,”
he said.
Kelley lays the groundwork for the need by noting that three
different types of entities exist in the convention.
The SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the Executive
Committee are almost totally funded by the Cooperative Program, receiving 74
percent or more of their annual operating budgets from the plan.
The Annuity Board and LifeWay Christian Resources do not receive
any Cooperative Program funds for operations but remain tied to the convention
by providing services to local churches.
The two mission boards of the convention and the six seminaries
receive a significant portion of their budgets from the Cooperative Program
– but could not function adequately without other sources of income.
The mission boards have offerings for that purpose, Kelley
noted. However, seminaries must rely on limited fund-raising and student fees,
he said.
He noted the restructuring of the convention several years
ago helped by freeing up more money for entities. “When measured against
inflation, however, the amount of money given to the Cooperative Program has
remained flat, while operating expenses have regularly increased,” Kelley
explained.
Also, seminaries were hurt when the convention quit using excess
Cooperative Program monies to fund capital needs of seminaries, Kelley said.
Those monies often were used for maintenance and repair projects hard to find
funding for otherwise, he said.
“This was a devastating blow.”
The bottom line is – at all but one seminary, Cooperative
Program funds are not enough to cover payroll costs, Kelley said.
The funding dilemma has pressured seminaries in two ways –
to keep faculty salaries low and to increase student fees, Kelley said. As a
result, fees are at record highs and faculty salaries are below national averages
for both seminary professors and Southern Baptist pastors, he explained.
The Executive Committee has named a committee to look into
the matter – but it is clear something must be done, Kelley said.
“We are not far away from putting Southern Baptist theological
education financially out of reach for many Southern Baptists,” he warned.
“Unless there are some changes, the moderate-dominated seminaries of the
70s and 80s will prove to have been far more affordable than the
conservative-dominated seminaries of the 21st century.
“In addition, the six seminaries are gradually being forced
to turn away from the (convention) and its churches in their search for additional
funding.”
The question Southern Baptists must ask is whether they will
keep theological education affordable, Kelley said.
He outlined several possible options:
Give more Cooperative Program money to the seminaries.
That would be the fastest solution – but it would take funds from other
entities, Kelley pointed out.
Allow for a wider variety of fund-raising strategies
for seminaries. However, they would “adversely affect the whole Cooperative
Program,” Kelley said.
Give the seminaries more input into trustee selection
so they can recruit persons with major giving potential. “Such a move would
be a major change in Southern Baptist practice, however, and could have significant
implications, …” Kelley said. “It would also take years for the
seminaries to benefit from this approach.”
Reinstate the capital needs budget. However, there
would have to be significant surpluses in Cooperative Program giving to benefit
seminaries, Kelley
acknowledged.
Start an annual seminary offering.
“None of these options are without potential problems,
…” Kelley agreed. “However, the situation of the seminaries today
argues that some … action must be taken.”
A benefit of combining the capital needs and offering option
would be to tie the seminaries more closely to churches, Kelley said. This may
forestall any distancing from the denomination, he indicated.
“The theological revolution within the six seminaries
succeeded beyond the wildest expectations of many,” Kelley concluded. “If
a funding revolution of sorts could be added … it will create ties that bind
even more tightly the future of the seminaries with the future of the denomination.
“More importantly, no process is more likely to give tomorrows
leaders a strong sense of denominational identity than high-quality, low-cost
theological education at a denominational school.
“Most importantly, students trained on these campuses
as they are today … could become the greatest generation of Southern Baptist
leaders ever going forth to serve. …
“It is a future worth the risk of tough decisions,” Kelley maintained.