Mary Kinney Branson, the former Director of Marketing for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, has written a new book detailing (at least giving her version of) the inner struggles, politics, and abuses at NAMB under the leadership of Bob Reccord. It’s called Spending God’s Money.
This back of the book offers a pretty good summary of where she’s headed on its pages. I found this posted, also, on the book’s product description at amazon.com (which I have copied here).
What’s Happened to Our Contributions? A hundred years ago, collective giving seemed the perfect solution. What one individual or church couldn’t do, combined efforts accomplished with ease. National agencies sprung up, offering to spend on our behalf. And we embraced them. Flash forward to days crammed with emails, overtime, and endless commuting. Time is often more valuable than money, and the desire to delegate spiritual privileges and responsibilities is even stronger. Surely national agencies and the professionals who oversee them can carry out the Great Commission faster and more effectively than harried homemakers and stressed executives. But as our time shrinks, national ministries grow larger. What started as lean groups of roll-up-your-sleeves workers have become Paul Bunyan-sized agencies, with excess fat and an overload of middle men draining a big chunk of the money intended for spreading the gospel. Elaborate national headquarters have shot up across America, with presidential office suites rivaling those of top CEOs. And giving isn’t the same. Sending a check to a faceless organization doesn’t generate the same fulfillment as pressing money into the hand of a young person heading for the mission field. Now the only smiling faces are those of mega leaders. And recently, their smiles have been fading as disenchanted givers voice their displeasure with irresponsible spending. The author of this on-the-edge book proposes an answer. After opening readers’ eyes to the tremendous waste of their hard-earned dollars, she offers ways to bring joy and effectiveness back into giving.
I received my copy of the book from the publisher around 2:30 yesterday. Right now that seems to be the only way to get it. Anyhow, I started reading it immediately … and I couldn’t stop. My wife thought I was “possessed” or something. I finished reading it around 9:00. I don’t think I will ever look at Cooperative Program giving in the same way again.
Let me say on the front end that I didn’t particularly enjoy the overall flow of the book. I found it a bit difficult to follow at times. Branson introduced important “players” at NAMB, often only by first names. After a while all of the names of all of the VP’s (there seemed to be a whole lot of them) started to blend together. But, as a read account after account of waste, abuse, and even (so it seems) fraudulent use of our sacrificially-given Cooperative Program dollars, I found myself searching for a highlighting pen. The passion and personal experience from which she wrote this book are powerfully evident.
And let me be frank. I’ve had my own personal dealings with NAMB. I am not the organization’s biggest fan. I worked under a contract status, providing professional leadership for short-term mission projects at a department at NAMB for eight years. I was once “fired” by a NAMB associate from one such position through a message on my home answering machine … I got share that humiliation with my family in the room. More recently, I was “let go” because I wanted to start a new ministry that was somehow viewed as “competitive” with a similar ministry at NAMB … and all the while I thought that us Jesus folk were all on the “same team.”
But I found myself having an “out of body experience” as I read Branson’s account of the sheer scope of the wasteful spending of Cooperative Program dollars through our North American Mission Board. I won’t go into any details. You need to read this stuff yourself. But when I found out that, with a budget of $132 million, we were only able to fully fund and field 32 full-time missionaries in North America, well … that “sealed the deal” for me. But at least we have a really nice building full of “middle managers” to show for it and a warehouse full of useless, unsellable inventory … right? Sigh…
If these claims are true, and by all accounts that we have been made privy to up to now it seems that they are, I can’t help but think that there will soon be a radical change in the giving patterns of Southern Baptist churches. Especially when Southern Baptists learn about the boatloads of “loot” and perks that Bob Reccord and other FOBs (that’s the NAMB acronym for “friends of Bob”) made off with when they departed (or even if they never actually were on staff of) our mission board (if these reports are, indeed, true … but I think Southern Baptists should be informed if CP dollars have been used to “buy out” contracts) .
Branson’s thesis seems to be that the further God’s money gets from the hands that gave it (that’s us, by the way … Southern Baptists), the more likely it becomes that a significant portion of those dollars will be wasted, in one fashion or another. I tend to agree. It’s common sense, really. The larger a bureaucracy, the more waste involved. We see it in governments. The most effective, wisest-spending form of government is local. Likewise, it stands to reason that the most effective, most careful, thriftiest spenders of “God’s money” must be the local churches. There is accountability in the local church. There are “checks and balances.” Both the giving and the spending are “personal” in the local church. And, after all, good stewardship requires good accountability just as much as it requires generosity.
I must admit that as a pastor of a relatively young church plant (under five years), comprised primarily of new and young (twenty and thirty-somethings) believers with no historical or familial ties to the SBC, it is a difficult “sell” to convince them that we should mail our monthly checks to a faceless “Baptist fund in the sky.” They want to know where the dollars that they gave are going. They want to know how they are spent. They want to give to a “point of contact.” They want to fund our own home-church “missionaries” in our own mobilization endeavors. Now that I’ve read this book, I don’t feel quite so compelled to be a “CP salesman” and try to convince them otherwise.
Let me confess right now … I am pretty disenfranchised in Baptist life anyway at this point in my ministry life. In the last five years I have been “let go” twice by NAMB, accepted and then six months later kicked out of my local Southern Baptist Association, and seen my church listed in the Kentucky Baptist Convention report book under the auspicious title of, “Miscellaneous.” This “miscellaneous” group of unaffiliated Southern Baptist churches to which I belong (in Kentucky) has relatively little representation on our state board, even though we represent almost 10% of the KBC churches.
From my view, it seems that the only time anyone wants to hear from me or my church in Southern Baptist life is if our correspondence has a check included with it.
I’m tired of being one of what Branson calls the “16 million worker bees” financing the desires and whims of a chosen few. I’ve got a lot of searching, pondering, and praying to do.
I’m wondering. Is the day upon us … I mean staring us full in the face … when one’s level of Cooperative Program giving is no longer the “measuring rod” that defines what it means to be Southern Baptist? Is it time for a new generation to step out in boldness and faith and stop “hiring out” the work of missions and evangelism that we should be out doing ourselves?
The Cooperative Program was created in the early 20th century (though the foundations for cooperative giving were laid in the middle of the 19th century). Things have changed dramatically in the past 80+ years. It’s not the same “world.” It’s obviously not the same Cooperative Program. And it’s definitely not the same Southern Baptists licking the stamps and mailing the checks.
I’m going to pray fervently about this while I’m on the mission field overseas next week. I’m going to talk personally with some IMB personnel to get their input and absorb their wisdom. I will analyze and write at length on all of this, and more, when I return. Meanwhile, I hope that I don’t miss out on the really good discussion and debate while I’m gone! 
January 18, 2007 at 7:39 pm
geoff,
dont throw out the baby with the bathwater, bro. there are many, many ministries that the cp funds, and they are great ministries. many missionaries would have to come home if we all quit giving due to some abuses at namb. maybe we can change some of the bad without doing away with the organization.
namb, imb, sb seminaries, etc need cp monies to keep up the ministries. my church gives 17% to the cp. and, we gave $53 grand to lottie moon this past december. we are glad to do it. i know of many missionaries and ministries that i know personally. they are doing a good work. they need our funding.
volfan007
January 18, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Yeah, I know good work is going on. To be honest, the IMB is the only part of SB life that I am truly “proud of” right now. I believe that’s the one place where we’re really getting it done.
There is jst so much duplication in the other areas of SB life … local, state, national … all doing the same stuff and all wanting their slice of the “local church pie.”
January 18, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Geoff,
You said, “The Cooperative Program was created in the middle of the 19th century.”
Please allow a gentle correction on this statement. The Cooperative Program began in the 20th century. In 1919, Lee Roy Scarborough of SWBTS was asked to head up a five year fundraising campaign known as the “75 Million Campaign. When the campaign ended in 1924, it was successful enough to bring about the birth of the Cooperative Program. And so, the CP is approximately 82 years old.
BTW, I believe 40,000 churches pooling their resources can accomplish more than 40,000 churches trying to fund missions by themselves.
But, hey, I understand your frustrations with NAMB. I agree with Volfan about not throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Volfan,
Your church gave $53K to LM? How many people attend your church?
Regards,
Les
January 18, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Les,
You’re right, of course. The CP as we know it is 82 or so years old. But the groundwork for Baptist cooperation began sometime in the mid-1840’s as I recall. That was my point.
Your belief (long held by us all) that 40,000 can do more together than separately sounds like it makes sense. But does the math really hold up? Brother, I am really struggling with this.
What accomplishes the most work? 40,000 small, individually-owned businesses … or one huge conglomerate company with 40,000 employees?
Sure, cooperation can be effective and convenient. But I sometimes wonder if it is more convenient than it is effective. Are we too satisfied (and maybe even too lazy) to send the checks and do our missions “by proxy?”
I don’t plan on “throwing out the baby” any time soon.
But I honestly think a change in giving patterns is coming, and it will be driven by this coming generation of young adults that have come up through their teen-age years serving on the mission field … no longer satisfied to pool their funds so that someone else can go and do the missions.
Les, I’m honestly afraid that the lure of these huge budgets and sums of money, so easily (mentally) disassociated from the local church, is entirely too corrupting for our own good.
Geoff
January 19, 2007 at 9:14 am
les,
we average about 150 in ss and 170 in worship on sunday morning.
geoff,
i almost agree with you that perhaps we have a duplication going on between association and state conventions. maybe we should think about doing away with the local association or the state convention. surely, one of those organizations could do the work that both are doing now. i dont know. and, geoff, even with the faults of namb…the cp is truly the best thing going right now for mission support….by far. nothing else even comes close to the sbc.
volfan007
January 19, 2007 at 3:49 pm
I guess I agree, volfan, because we’ve told ourselves that for so long. But have you looked at your state CP giving in the yearly book lately? (I mean church by church.) There are a phenomenal number of churches which do not give at all … or token amounts at best. I wonder where all of that missions spending is going?
I still think that as this younger, more “hands-on” generation comes of age, giving patterns are going to change. My prayer is that IMB will survive and maintain its growth and influence.
January 19, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Geoff,
I understand your concern about the lure of big budgets and huge sums of money. I share your concern.
Les
January 20, 2007 at 11:18 am
Brother Geoff,
I too have just finished reading the book. I have a couple of concerns as I read the book.
First, was my concern of why now were were hearing of this spending extravagance? It seems the author was content receiving the promotions and advocating to the BoT’s everything was going well as long as her bread was being buttered. When she was given a position with a VP she did not seem to have the fondest feelings for, she decides to retire.
Second, are statements made that implies to the reader something underhanded. For example, whe discussing Nate Adams coming from Christianity today she says, “I later heard that Nate became the highest-paid VP.” This would lead one to question the motives behind her relationship with Nate.
Allow me to close. I do not disagree that this extravagance should have been exposed. I find it odd that the author retired shortly before the Christian Index revealed its investigation. I also find it odd that some of the extravagance is reported and others are just given passing dispersions. For example nothing is said as to the discrepency of Ed Stetzer’s receiving royalties for his books being done on NAMB time. The only thing mentioned is a time when Eric comments on the royalties he and Ed will receive. Also, this extravagance did not begin with Bob Reccord. If she were afraid for her job under NAMB I can understand. However, according to her the extravagance began under Larry Lewis. Why did she not report it then? Why wait until she has worked her way into the position of the first woman director and stay until she resigns?
I agree that NAMB needs to get its act together. However, I do not believe it is all laid at the door of one person.
Blessings,
Tim
January 20, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Geoff,
I am pleased that so many people are expressing concern about financial integrity in the SBC. Whether they agree with me is irrelevant. I simply wrote what I saw. If God uses SGM to initiate discussion, that’s great.
I knew people would question my motives. That’s human nature, and I’m not surprised or upset. Thank you for this forum where I can clarify a few concerns.
I didn’t work my way up to a director level at NAMB. I was a director at HMB as well. However, when NAMB was formed, no women were given higher positions. I did work my way back up, but I’d been a director previously.
The misuse at HMB was mild compared to what we saw at NAMB. In spite of that, I did speak up when I was in a position to do so. Much of the misuse filtered down after the fact and few of us had a chance to speak up. My performance appraisals were stellar for 16 years—most years I received the highest “exceeds requirements” rating. Nevertheless, I was “written up” twice—once at HMB and once at NAMB—for insubordination. I refused both times to do something I felt was unethical (the NAMB instance is discussed in the book).
When the HMB instance occurred, I was ready to resign. A friend and fellow director encouraged me not to do so. I still remember his words, “If you leave, you put your pride before the calling you have to serve here. Don’t leave until God leads you to do so.” And that’s what I did. When I left NAMB, I had no intention of writing SGM. I simply felt God’s leadership to leave. In the months that followed, I felt His leadership to write the book.
I was probably more outspoken than most people and certainly was not known as one who brownnosed or bit my tongue. But unless you lived in NAMB’s atmosphere (where we were told if we didn’t like what was going on we could get off the bus) you can’t imagine how difficult it was to speak up. I don’t blame anyone who didn’t speak up and I don’t blame anyone who signed the waiver promising not to write or speak negatively about NAMB. I understand that there is now a whistle blowing policy.
I retired nearly a year before the Christian Index article appeared so I’m not seeing a connection there. I knew nothing about an Index article while I was working on the proposal for my book.
One last thing. I believe CP and NAMB do worthy work. However, I believe there is a lot of duplication and when there’s a choice, I’d choose creating strategies and doing work as close to the ministry source as possible. But, as I say in the book, there are things that are done better at a national level.
I’d love to see full financial disclosure for SBC entities, and that’s as close as an SBC vote. A handful of people can’t misuse our contributions unless we allow it. I think we have a right to know the costs of the salaries and severance packages we pay for.
Thanks for the forum.
January 20, 2007 at 11:44 pm
While I haven’t read the book yet, I would like to thank Mary Branson for having the courage to write about a situation every Southern Baptist lay person should be made aware of since it’s their money that supports these organizations.
While my family was directly affected by the mismanagement at NAMB, I do not want to see the Cooperative Program falter. Having gone through personal disappointment with NAMB, it seems many would rather bury their heads in the sand than acknowledge any problems within our SBC organizations. They should know that eventually wrong doing will come to light, which is what happened at NAMB.
SBC enities supported by the CP should be accountable to God first and then to the individuals who give their hard earned tithes and offerings through their local congregations.
Amazon.com has SGM listed with jacket cover info, but no availability date. Where might I get a copy? Thanks.
January 21, 2007 at 8:38 am
Tim -
Good points. True. There seemed to be a lot of innuendo instead of fact at times. But I think that the information that we already knew showedtha there was “something rotten in Denmark” when it came to NAMB. I witnessed some of the extravagances and waste, but on a very small scale. I agree that the book did seem more than a bit vindictive toward Nate Adams. I know Nate that think much of him … I count him as a friend.
But I do think this book of revelations will take us toward a greater accountability.
Mary-
Wow! A visit from the author. Thanks for stopping by. You are absolutely right about the duplication that is going on … and we do deserve full disclosure of where all of the dollars given sacrificially by our churches are going.
Carol-
I am sorry that your family was affected by this turn of events. I also want to see the CP survive. But I think, realistically, there will be a “paring back” in the coming years.
You can order the book directly from the publisher, Father’s Press. I think I posted a link on my original post (the one with the picture of the book). Otherwise, you can just google the publisher name.
Thanks for stopping by. Please come back often.
January 22, 2007 at 4:48 am
[...] Geoff Baggett- Spending God’s Money-My Reflections & Where Do We Go From Here? [...]
January 22, 2007 at 10:55 am
Sister Mary,
Let me say that I do not want to seem suspicious of your motives. I truly do not want to do that. However, why not reveal these things before stepping away into retirement? Regardless to the level of financial abuse between the HMB and the NAMB, why not report it during the HMB days? The appearance given by waiting until now, by referencing the severance package Bob Reccord negotiated through his attorney, is sour grapes that you had to settle for your retirement. I am not trying to be harsh, but that is the appearance.
Brother Geoff,
While yours and Sister Mary’s knowledge of the inner workings of NAMB is much more than mine, I cannot help but ask one question. Why not report these issues when something is “rotten in Denmark” instead of waiting until people bilk the CP monies? Why not raise issues when “ice sculptures” appear instead of using it to point to the extravagance after the ice has melted?
Blessings,
Tim
January 22, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Tim,
I´m responding from the Peruvian mountain village of Panao … it´s so cool.
First of all, I ´have no real knowledge of the inner workings of NAMB … none. I was a contract worker on the outside looking in you might say. I never saw an ice sculpture… All of the real knowledge I have is the same as you … it came when all of the news broke.
Geoff
January 22, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Geoff:
You were kicked out by your association? Interesting because that was just about to happen to me. Since I was the only one in my congregation who felt any desire at all to be Baptist and support the CP, I met with the elders and we just withdrew last week from the Ga Bapt Convention and the SBC.
I’d be interested to know about your experience of being kicked out of your association and I’d be glad to share mine. I’m no heretic and agree with the 2000 BF&M. If you’d care to share, my email is derek4messiah@yahoo.com
Derek Leman
hopeofdavid.com
derek4messiah.wordpress.com
January 23, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Derek,
I´m on a mountain top in Peru right now … doing some advance work on a people group partnership. I will give you a shout back next week after I get home.
Geoff
January 23, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Hi, Tim.
I spoke up on many occasions, but there was no process to take complaints upline. Staff had very little access to trustees (as I stress in the book) and we never knew if a complaint to our supervisor went further.
As the trustees reported, there was a climate of fear that discouraged any type of whistle blowing. When, as I describe in the book, I connected enough dots to draw a picture that alarmed me and God led me to RESIGN (not retire–I learned after I quit that I was eligible for early retirement; I quit assuming I would simply be out of a job), I did so. And when He led me, some months later, to write the book, I did that, too.
Please know that writing the book was NOT a pleasant task. I love NAMB. I love our denomination. I knew my motives would be questioned. But I feel that I did what God led me to do. And if the result is more of God’s money to God’s work, then mission accomplished.
Again, thanks for the great thinking! I would have replied sooner, but we’re traveling. I don’t mind being questioned because I know we all have the same concerns for furthering the Kingdom.
February 9, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Mary-
Thank you so much for writing this book. I hope every person in the sbc will read it and understand what a prideful and sinful bunch that were leading that agency. I still think people ought to be demanding their 500k of tithes and offerings from Bob Reccord, to be paid back to the missionaries.
Think of how many more missionaries could have been funded with that money!
I could just slap that man
February 10, 2007 at 11:17 am
Dear ILoveMaryBranson,
I doubt that you (we) have all of the details. We don’t know how much Reccord received. If you want to write a personal note to Mary, I would encourage you to do so on her blog at http://www.wordauthority.com/blog/SGM.html .
Thanks,
Geoff
February 10, 2007 at 11:18 am
I deleted a comment by someone calling themselves “littlebopeep” because I believe that the comment was inappropriate for my blog.
Geoff