October 22, 2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) – The State Convention of Baptists in Ohio (SCBO), announced finalization of the sale of its Seneca Lake property in a video released Friday (April 29).
Seneca Lake Baptist Assembly is a campground property in Senecaville, Ohio, that the SCBO has used for church camps and retreats.
Jeremy Westbrook, SCBO executive director-treasurer, explained the state convention had received several offers for the purchase of the Seneca Lake property and had been considering the right offer to accept.
Ray Umphrey, SCBO president and lead pastor at Briggs Road Baptist Church, said in the video that the convention reached a decision on an offer after a collaborative effort among the convention’s officers as well as its financial and executive committees.
The two explained in the video that the convention had the property appraised at $2 million, and the private buyer had made a full cash offer of $2.1 million. The convention’s mission council met Friday at Briggs Road Baptist for its April meeting and voted unanimously to sell property to the private buyer.
Leadership already has a plan to disburse the $2.1 million.
Some of the money will be put into the convention’s operating reserves (enough to cover a few months), some will reimburse a church that was paying to build a cabin on the property and some will go toward expenses to keep mineral rights (oil and natural gas) from the property.
The remaining $1.1 million will be donated to the Cooperative Program in a 50/50 split between state and national.
“We believe in the Cooperative Program and we want to send a message that as Ohio Baptists we believe in the Cooperative Program,” Westbrook said.
“What better legacy than that some kids who may have come through Seneca Lake at some point are now being trained as missionaries, church planters or attending one of seminaries, that we can help underwrite their education and send them to the mission field.”
Umphrey closed the video by acknowledging both the sadness and excitement that this move brings.
“I know this is an exciting day of looking forward to the future, but it is also a bittersweet day for some who think back on past memories and past ministry at Seneca Lake,” Umphrey said. “We want to honor and respect that, but I now believe moving in this way positions us for Gospel ministry in Ohio for years to come.”
