Spending God’s Money-Bob Reccord’s story…

Unlike the authors of a book about misuse of money by executives at the North American Mission Board and it’s former President, Dr. Bob Reccord, I actually talked with him last Friday for over an hour.

I admit up front that Dr. Reccord and Cheryl have a special place in my heart. They were members of my church in Atlanta where I was the Evangelism Pastor back in the late 1990’s. I responded to a message he spoke at our church to become a church planter. Dr. Reccord was extremely helpful to me in the process of becoming a North American Mission Board Missionary. I will forever be grateful to him.

For that reason, I asked Art Rogers and Marty Duren to read this before I posted it so I wasn’t just looking through “Rose Color” glasses. Thanks Art and Marty!

Branson’s take on Dr. Reccord did not sound like the Bob Reccord I know.  Dr. Reccord did not ask me to write this. He wasn’t defensive, in fact he was very postitve. But those who know him know that is Bob.

Here are some additional facts that have not been presented to you, by either Westbury or Branson. I think that, in the interest of fairness, these things ought to also be taken into account with whatever critiques are in the air.

1. Bob Reccord was not fired. (Dr. Reccord was told repeatedly by the majority of the board that had it come to a vote, he would have had no problem.)
2. In 1997, the administrative overhead of the HMB was approx. 25% (that figure came from the auditors) In Dec of 2005, the administrative overhead, was reduced to just under 12%.
3. In 1997, the Brotherhood Commission was nearly bankrupt. In addition, multiple millions of dollars went to front-line ministries.
   
4. The Nehemiah Church Planting Project was launched in all 6 U. S. seminaries and the one in Canada, establishing a Church Planting Center and professor on each campus
5. The Strategic Focus City emphasis was launched that by mid 2006 planted over 325 new churches in 10 major cities and has seen over 50,000 people accept Christ
6. $2,000,000 over and above normal in 1999 was given to our SBC state partners
7. Churches were launched in the wake of the Tampa Billy Graham Crusade (51 ) and the St. Louis Crusade (24)
8. 10 Strategic Flagship churches were launched in major metro areas, many of which have now “fathered” or “grandfathered” new churches
   1. The Nehemiah Project appointed (through 2005)
      1. 405 funded two-year planters
      2. Approximately 3650 students were trained in the 7 seminaries
      3. 717 funded short-term and semester student interns
9. New church planters grew to be 59% African American and ethnic, better reflecting North America’s and Southern Baptist’s cultural diversity and during NAMB’s first nine years, 14,350 new churches were reported (per Dr. Richard Harris, VP of Church Planting)
10. Next Level Leadership and Team Development was launched and grew to equipping approximately 24,000 church leaders in 2005 working integrally with state convention partners.
11. World Changers, a ministry of teens giving a week of their summer to rebuilding sub-standard housing in metropolitan low-income areas, while sharing Christ with those who live there, grew from approximately 8,000 participants to approximately 25,000 participants each summer.
12. Disaster Relief grew exponentially and received more recognition that ever before in SBC history. Southern Baptists left an indelible impact at the tragedies of 9/11 the Florida hurricanes of 2004 and the hurricanes of 2005. Gifts to national Disaster Relief have exploded to just over $24 million and national recognition all the way to the White House.
13. The Church Finance Team grew from consulting 50-60 churches per year at NAMB’s inception to over 700 yearly as of mid 2006 in areas dealing with facilities, land, growth, etc
14. Church planting in the first 8 years of NAMB averaged over 277 more per year that in the last 8 years of the previous existing Home Mission Board.
15. The 91% increase in health care costs was not been passed onto NAMB staff or missionaries. ( I know this from personal experience)
16. Mission personnel grew by more than 450 in the nine years to approximately
    5300, who are serving across North America in all types of settings
17. Operation NOAH Rebuild was launched to play a significant role in the re-build efforts of homes in the New Orleans and North Shore area with a goal of a minimum of 1000 homes, and Promise Keepers was enlisted as a collaborating partner to aid in the manpower to get the job done
18. Solid collaborative working relationships were forged with other well known Ministries such as Promise Keepers, Campus Crusade, Salvation Army, and others…always maintaining the unwavering doctrinal base of Southern Baptist.
19. Relationships were forged with leaders on Capital Hill to enable NAMB to lay groundwork for launching new ministries there to Hill staff and for testifying before Congressional committees on vital faith-based issues.
20. FEMA certified Disaster Relief Volunteers increased from approximately13, 500 in 1997 to over 52, 000 in early 2006 with the partnership of state convention partners and the coordination of NAMB.
21. The Software charge is crazy. NAMB offered “FREE” Church Planting Management Software free of charge to all church planters! I was one who used it. They have given out over 19,000 copies!

As I mentioned before, I talked to Dr. Reccord, but he said that neither Branson or Westbury had sought comment from him, despite a publicly listed phone number and email address. I think the standard of journalism, at least in Christendom, ought to rise high enough to attempt to present both sides of an issue with such magnitude.

I have many friends at NAMB and am grateful for their ministry. In fact, I was recommended to my present ministry by a senior director at NAMB. My personal prayer is that we can continue to talk issues in our denomination and Christendom without tearing down our fellow servants.

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