Foreign Mission Board Rooms
January 8, 1953
The foreign Mission Board met in regular monthly session at 3:30 p.m.
on Thursday, ^anunry 8, 1953, with Mr, Jenkins presiding.
Present: L. Howard Jenkins, Juris T, Long, T. Shad ^edlin, Rush
Loving, Emmett Y. Robinson, Oscar L. Hite, J. Hundley Wiley, Mrs.
Paul LaRoque, Mrs. rom Smith, Mrs. Clyde v . bicker son, Perry Mitchell,
T. Rupert Coleman, E. P. Buxton, M. T. Rankin, George Badler,
Baker James Cauthen, Everett Gill, Jr., E. L. Beane, Frank K. Means,
Fon H. Scofield.
Dr. Mitchell led in prayer.
On the motion of Br. Hite it was voted to appoint the following
missionaries :
Dr. and Mrs. Clarence Ford Clark, Japan
Mr. and Mrs. William Walthall Graves, Argentina
Dr. Rankin delivered the charge to the new missionaries and Dr. Means
led in prayer.
Dr. Rankin gave the following report:
My report for this meeting of the Foreign Mission Board consists mainly
of encouraging information.
The first item is that the Foreign Mission Board's receipts from
Cooperative Program funds over and above the fixed budget of the
Convention have amounted to t 1,038, 035. 38. This full amount has
already been received by the treasurer of the Board.
The second item is the fact that the Executive Committee of the
Southern Baptist Convention, at its meeting in December, voted to
recommend to the Convention in May an increase in the fixed budget
of the Convention of ^750,000.00, 50 per cent of which wrill be
allocated to the Foreign Mission Board. This recommendation, if
adopted by the Convention, will provide an additional ^375,000.00
in operating funds for the Board in 1954.
This makes it entirely sound for the Foreign Mission Board to proceed
with the a ppointment of a maximum of 100 missionaries in 1953. A
recommendation is being presented also that y500,000.00 of the over
and above funds be set aside to be applied to the 1954 budget of the
Board to underwrite the increased recurring commitments for advance . in
1953. 'The full cosv of appointment of 100 missionaries in 1953 plus
the increased expenses of operations on the fields, which such additional
appointments will automatically involve, will not be reflected in the
budget until 1954. He are, therefore, recommending that this amount
be set aside to apply on the 1954 budget.
The entire balance of the over and above funds will be used for
urgently needed buildings and equipment in foreign fields. Vie have in
our files large lists of requests from missions for appropriations of
funds to erect buildings and provide equio ent for churches, schools,
hospitals, publication plants, missionary residences, and other types
of physical equipment. The secretarial staff plans to have a list of
recommended approoriations in the hand3 of the members of the Administra¬
tive Committee some days in advance of the February meeting so that
members of the Committee may consider these recommendations before
they are asked
ьо
vote on them. When approved by the Committee, they
will be brought to the February meeting of this Board for appropriation.
Those of us who were present at the December meeting of the Executive
Committee of the Convention, which was attended by most of the state
Baptist board secretaries and editors of state Baptist papers, received
much encouragement and reassurance with reference to the healthy support
which is being given to foreign missions. 1'his support for foreign
missions is a part of an equally strong support for all other phases
of our bouthern Baptist Cooperative Program. This fact is a part of
the strength of the support given to the Foreign Mission Board. Any
suoport of foreign missions that fails to give full recognition to the
necessity for healthy support of our home base and all of its necessary
institutions, would not constitute healthy support of foreign missions.
At the same time, we are coming more and more to recognize that a
