The Executive Board of Woman’s Missionary Union of North Carolina (WMU-NC) has voted overwhelmingly to relocate the organization’s offices from the Baptist State Convention (BSC) building in Cary and to assume responsibility for its own human resources policies and payroll.

The vote, taken August 16 in an evening conference call, included 25 of the Executive Board’s 30 members. Of those participating in the call, 23 voted in favor, while one person opposed and one abstained. The Board had received a recommendation from its executive committee at least five days previously, as required by WMU-NC’s governing documents.

WMU-NC has received a preliminary offer of alternative office space in the Raleigh area at a very reasonable cost, according to executive director Ruby Fulbright.

The decision to relocate WMU-NC’s offices should not be interpreted as a departure from the organization’s commitment to supporting and promoting missions through the BSCNC, Fulbright said, nor as a lack of appreciation for the mutual partnership the organizations have enjoyed in the past.

The churches that rely on WMU-NC for assistance should see no change, she said. “We intend to continue working with the churches. We intend to keep praying for, promoting, and supporting the offerings, as well as providing missions education resources and training.

“We also plan to continue participating and cooperating with North Carolina Baptist Men, church planting efforts, and other groups in doing missions,” Fulbright added.

“It has been our purpose and our joy to use our gifts and skills to be a resource for, a support of and a helper to the Baptist State Convention in the cause of missions,” Fulbright said. “Each entity gave strength to the other. Through the years, the relationship worked like it was supposed to work with an organization (WMU) that wanted to help the cause of missions and was allowed to do so.

“We wish to affirm an ongoing relationship,” Fulbright added. “WMU-NC is appreciative of the history and heritage of our relationship with the BSCNC. We are very grateful for the benefits that have been provided for us through the years.”

In its early days, WMU-NC worked out of leaders’ homes or rented office space until 1912, when the organization began sharing office space with the Biblical Recorder. In 1947, WMU-NC moved into the BSC offices on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.

In recent years, salaries for WMU-NC employees have come from the North Carolina Missions Offering, while the BSCNC has provided funding for benefits and fleet cars as well as office space.
The decision to relocate has resulted in part from liability-related concerns expressed by current BSCNC administrators, who have insisted that the BSCNC executive director should have final authority over WMU-NC employees. In previous administrations, WMU-NC was wholly responsible for hiring and managing its staff. The BSCNC executive director signed paperwork to enter new WMU-NC employees into the payroll system, but did not seek active involvement in the hiring process.

“WMU-NC does not want to be perceived as a liability to the BSC,” Fulbright said. “We want to be more of an asset.”

The organization also wishes to be a resource for other Christian entities in mission education and involvement, she said, assisting churches that affiliate with bodies such as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Baptist World Alliance.

WMU-NC has asked the BSC for a nine-month transition period to deal with the transfer of responsibility for insurance and payroll issues, though it would not necessarily take that long to move out of the Baptist Building in Cary.

The organization also desires to continue receiving funds through the North Carolina Missions Offering (NCMO), an annual state-wide offering that provides funds for WMU-NC, North Carolina Baptist Men, church planting, and a variety of other projects.

The 2007 NCMO goal is $2.53 million. If fully funded, WMU-NC would receive $867,437, or 33.6 percent, of the total.

Prior to 1979, WMU-NC received funding through the annual Heck-Jones Offering. In 1977, the BSC voted to combine the offerings received by various entities into a single campaign, and the entities agreed. The social service agencies later reinstituted their individual offerings, but WMU-NC has remained a supportive participant in the combined offering.