At the conclusion of the Baptist Joint Committee’s 75th year, I want to express a word of great appreciation for your support over the years and an appeal for your continued assistance. Here are several ways we can work together to defend and extend religious liberty for all and make sure that effort lasts for another 75 years and beyond.   

First, you can be our voice where you live. Advocate for the BJC and for religious liberty in your denominational body, your church and your local community. Reading Report from the Capital every month will keep you abreast of current events. Visiting the BJC’s website and blog will do the same. We stand ready to answer any questions or provide you with any additional resources you need to speak authoritatively to your elected leaders, policy shapers in your community, the editorial board of your local newspaper and even your Sunday school class.

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That said, we would love to pay you a visit personally — to speak and lead a forum in your church, talk about our ministry at your denominational gatherings and lecture at your local college or seminary. Of course, time, energy and funding limitations mean that we cannot be every where we would like to be. But, we’ll try as best we can to come see you. 

Next, work to maintain and expand the BJC’s funding in your church and your denominational body. Twenty-two years ago, when I first came to the BJC, nearly all of our funding came from our then-11 supporting denominational bodies as well as a few churches that contributed directly to the BJC. The financial landscape now is much different. In 2010, for example, we got less than one-third of our budget from our 15 denominational bodies, including state Baptist organizations. About 12 percent came from churches directly. And, the giving line over the past decade from denominations and churches is steadily going down, in absolute amount and percentage of the budget.    

I hope you will help us stanch this decline and reverse the trend. If we are not in your church’s budget, we ought to be; if we do not participate in your church’s endowment fund, we would love to. If we are already included, please help us hold the line and, if possible, expand it each year. The BJC’s mission and methods are at bottom spiritual; we must maintain our close ties — financial and otherwise — with religious bodies and churches.   

Finally, we need for you to make a personal financial commitment to our ministry and the future of religious liberty. Our work does not just inure to the benefit of churches and institutions, but it also ensures your “soul freedom” on an individual level. Well over half of our annual financial needs come from individual gifts and family-controlled foundations. Thankfully, the timeline for these sources shows an increase. Here are several ways in which you can steepen the slope of that curve:

• Give to our annual budget this year. By now you should have received a letter inviting you to do so and an envelope to send your gift back. It is important you do so every year. If you skip a year, we feel it right away.
• Remember the BJC in your will and other testamentary dispositions. To ensure the future for religious liberty, include at least an amount which, when invested prudently in the BJC’s endowment, will create a five percent annual income stream that equals your average annual gift. Then the BJC’s annual budget will continue to benefit from your benevolence long after you and I are gone.
• For those of you who are 70 ½ or older, you may have a special opportunity to give up to $100,000 now from your retirement fund, without any taxes at the federal level. Check with your professional tax adviser.    

Thank you for your faithful partnership. Advocate for religious liberty in your community; invite us to come for a visit; be sure to give regularly and generously, both individually and through your churches and other denominational bodies.