I learned yesterday through different friends that contacted me that Joe Graham, State wide Baptist Collegiate Ministry leader for Georgia, was informed yesterday that his job would end at the end of this month.
The Christian Index, the Baptist paper for Georgia, in a release yesterday said that, "A prolonged decline in Cooperative Program giving is forcing the Georgia Baptist Mission Board to further reduce staffing levels in order to right-size the organization to meet financial realities. Cooperative program receipts have declined in Georgia from a high of $49.5 million in 2007 to $37.8 million in 2020, an overall drop of $11.7 million. That includes a $2.6 million decline since the beginning of the pandemic."
About a year or two ago retirement incentives were offered to a number of Georgia Convention employees. This included some BCM Campus Ministers and that reduced their number of local BCM College Ministers. A friend, who formerly worked in Georgia, told me at one point there were 170 Georgia Baptist Convention employees and now there are less than 90.
In my opinion, Joe's loss is not just a loss to collegiate ministry in Georgia, but to our national movement of college ministry as well. He has been a strong voice and leader in much that has been done to fill the gap in cutbacks on the national level.
In the past years with the changes and elimination in national programs and the loss of the collegiate ministry office at Lifeway, the State BCM Directors have led BCNet. BCNet is a group of committees made up of local campus and church based College Ministers that plan and carry out ministries, programs, and training that benefits our national movement. And, this past August the State BCM Directors, with Joe's involvement, planned and put on the Collegiate Week at Falls Creek in Oklahoma. Collegiate Week is a national gathering of students and College Ministers which has been done prior to the start of each school year. This event was formally done by Lifeway Christian Resources.
Pray for Joe and his family during this time for what is next for him and just in processing this. Also, pray for collegiate ministry in Georgia. I was told that the Georgia BCM Directors will be meeting together later this week. Pray for that meeting and for them as well.
Also pray that decisions made in days to come as finances change that Baptists will be strategic and wise in decisions made. It is easy to just cut, but how do we do what God has called us to do in the wisest and most efficient way with the resources that we have?
Arliss Dickerson's college ministry books are available at amazon.com/dp/B08CMD9CXX.
I hate to hear that. I'll be praying for the Grahams and for collegiate efforts in Georgia and beyond.
ReplyDeletePraying for Joe! And for the rest of the campus ministers at their “meeting”. I’m saddened for Joe but also how Georgia Baptists will loose the opportunity to be a part of God’s work on the campuses locally and globally. The ones who loose are Georgia Baptists!
ReplyDeleteOh I am saddened by this news. The future of our church’s leadership are on our university campuses. I am convinced BCM is the most strategic place to invest and that stewardship means to look to the future. Blessing Joe. You have been an amazing support for campus ministries all across North America, especially to those of us in the Emerging regions. You have lots of friends here in Canada
ReplyDelete