Oursourced Caring

Our state convention in its latest rounds of cost-cutting measures has finally killed what once was a rather robust ministry to ministers. The reason the cost-cutting is necessary is because people are not giving to the state convention because (I think) they no longer trust the state convention. The "Trust Me" routine can only go so far and go on for so long and then people start asking the question, "Why does he keep saying that?" The obvious answer is that he is untrustworthy. And so giving is down. The idea of just looking to the future is not working real well either. People want to know a little bit more about the past before they can get excited about the future.
Once upon a time, the BGCT(Baptist General Convention of Texas) had a sensible and compassionate way of dealing with troubled or terminated ministers. For troubled ministers they offered to pay for their counseling. For terminated ministry families, they helped them find a safe place to go and often rented a U-Haul for them to get there. That was then.

Now, we are going to outsource our caring. However, caring for ministry families in the BGCT had come close to feeling like neglect these last eight years. There was less and less money for counseling. Some counseling money was diverted to prop up a new counseling center at the church of the former Executive Director. Terminated ministers were no longer helped but told to negotiate a severance agreement--which shows how many in the Building had been a terminated minister. When one is terminated, one rarely is in a position to negotiate anything (If you don't give me a severance agreement, I will camp out in my office, go on a hunger strike, not change my socks , and scream all the church's secrets out the window until you promise to feed my family for three months!!)

I am not sure where the money went, but I know where it did not go. For some reason, some folks in the Baptist Building hated the idea of helping troubled ministers and their families. Sure, some of the ministers were incompetent and sure they could have qualified to be our last Executive Director, but that is no reason to turn away from the family in their hour of need.

Well, the money has run out, the pink slips are in the bins, and what is left of a once robust convention is gone. Just remember what the Building told our ministers at this very time, "Be warmed and filled!"