November 11, 2026
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Georgia Baptists are directing $900,000 to support international missionaries and two church plants in Boston, leaders reported during the 204th annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention.
Chad Mantooth, lead pastor of First Baptist Church Winder and chairman of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Committee, told messengers that $600,000 has been approved for the International Mission Board to renovate housing used by missionaries at the International Learning Center near Richmond, Va.
The money comes from operational efficiencies in the 2026 Georgia Baptist Mission Board budget.
The funds will renovate two quad units used by missionary families during training before deployment and during later training. Each quad can house four families, and Mantooth said the units have not been updated in more than 25 years.
The Executive Committee report says $300,000 was approved in May for one missionary residence, with another $300,000 approved to assist with a second. Mantooth told messengers that the funds will be used to renovate two quads.
In a video message, IMB President Paul Chitwood pointed to Georgia Baptists’ history of supporting missionaries beyond their Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering giving.
“Since I’ve become president of the IMB eight years ago, there’s been no state convention that was more generous in providing for the work and the workers of the IMB,” Chitwood said.
The International Learning Center is where missionaries live for several weeks as they prepare to serve overseas and where they return during stateside assignments.
“We’re going to have a Georgia Baptist quad that is provided for by your exclusive funding, and actually two quads because you’ve given above and beyond not just to contribute to one of those missionary housing units, but to two of them,” Chitwood said.
“No other state convention has done that. We praise the Lord for you.”
“I’m just amazed at the generosity of our Georgia Baptist Mission Board and our churches,” Mantooth told messengers.
Georgia Baptists are also providing $300,000 to help two Boston-area church plants renovate newly acquired properties.
Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director Thomas Hammond said the Financial Services Committee, Administration Committee, and Executive Committee unanimously approved gifts of $150,000 each to Renewal Church and King’s Hill Church after learning that both congregations had secured permanent locations.
Hammond introduced the church planters by video during the annual meeting.
Jared Kirk has served in Boston for 13 years and leads Renewal Church. Jonathan Mosley, originally from Columbus, Ga., has served in Boston for 14 years and leads King’s Hill Church. Mosley said Kirk mentored him for three years before sending him out to plant the congregation.
Kirk described Boston as difficult ground, particularly among older generations. But, he added, “There is a hunger with the younger generations to know God. There’s something missing and they don’t know what it is.”
Mosley said much of the resistance they encounter is apathy rather than hostility, but the churches have continued to see lives changed through the gospel.
Renewal Church has met in a variety of locations during its history, including a movie theater and a hotel. During the COVID period, the congregation met outside for about a year.
The church now has two services and has acquired a roughly 100-year-old building one block from the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill.
“We’re going to have a gospel presence that’s permanent and secure where we can proclaim the message of Jesus right on Beacon Hill,” Kirk said.
King’s Hill Church ministers in an area with 12 universities within about a square mile, Mosley said. The congregation has also acquired a property that will require renovation.
Georgia Baptist churches have already sent teams from communities including Athens, Toccoa, Columbus, and McDonough to assist with ministry in Boston, Mosley said.
The planters learned about the Georgia Baptist gifts during the recorded conversation.
“We’re going to send both of you a check for $150,000 to help you with the renovation costs that you have that are coming,” Hammond said.
He also offered to send Georgia Baptist volunteer teams to assist with the work.
Mosley, originally from Columbus, responded, “It absolutely means the world to have you guys behind us, especially for me, my home state. We’re incredibly grateful for your investment.”
“When there’s support like that from the outside, it just means that the gospel goes further, faster,” Kirk said. “To have the Georgia Baptists step in like that, it’s like wind in our sails.”
Hammond closed that portion of the report by thanking Georgia Baptist churches for their partnership.
“Your giving to the Cooperative Program enables things just like this to happen,” he said. “I believe with all my heart, greater things are in the future.”
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