SBC Executive Committee passes budget reflecting CP reallocation

NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee members approved several budget-related recommendations at their meeting Sept. 21-22, including one addressing rule changes at the Internal Revenue Service.

During his address at Monday night’s plenary session, Executive Committee President and CEO Jeff Iorg informed trustees of a 12 percent reduction in SBC and EC operating expenses, which was made to meet the goal of increasing the International Mission Board’s Cooperative Program allocation to 51 percent.

The new budget, $660,000 lower than last year’s, reflects “reduced compensation and benefits … curtailed ministry efforts, increased fees for services, and new efficiencies in several areas,” Iorg said.

That path to adding another percent to the IMB’s allocation began with a 2010 vote by Southern Baptists in support of the Great Commission Resurgence. Recent actions by the messengers have also led the Executive Committee to “reconsider the scope and methods” of its work, Iorg added. Discussions in the coming months will be finalized at the EC’s February meeting, with a presentation at the annual meeting next June.

David Twiddy, chair of the EC’s Convention Finances and Stewardship Development standing committee, presented six recommendations that were approved by trustees:

• Received as information: A 2025-26 SBC CP allocation budget of $140,927,408 received through the third quarter (June 30), which reflects a .21 percent decrease compared to the previous year’s actual receipts.
• Received as information: A third-quarter report for the 2025-26 SBC operating budget, ending June 30, showing a year-to-date operating surplus of $2,764,029.
• The use of funds from a $3 million special allocation in the 2025-26 budget and fiscal year for ongoing legal expenses related to the “delaying of significant trials and potential appeals beyond the fiscal year end date.”
• Approved the detailed 2026-27 SBC Executive Committee and SBC Operating budget of $10,919,000.
• Declined to amend the SBC Business and Financial Plan to preclude SBC entities from fundraising without advance approval of the Convention or the EC.
• Declined a motion that requested the EC to direct the SBC president to form a task force to study transparency. “[T]he request to direct the President is beyond the purview of the Executive Committee,” the recommendation said.

Trustees also approved a recommendation by the Committee on Southern Baptist Relations regarding new IRS policies regarding group exemption. At the previous night’s plenary session, Iorg explained that the language was “problematic … at several points related to our polity – particularly issues related to autonomy and ecclesiology.”

The recommendation encouraged the EC to “adopt amended procedures of its group exemption process to comply” with the new guidelines.

“While maintaining the autonomy and self-governance of local Southern Baptist churches, the policy adopted today by the Executive Committee takes the necessary steps to address, in good faith, IRS Revenue Procedure 2026-8,” said EC general counsel Robert Pautienus.

The Executive Committee will meet next on Feb. 22-23 in Nashville.

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This article appeared in Baptist Press.