Letter to Baptist Churches from John Levick - 29 July 2022
Dear Friends
I am writing to all member churches of Baptists Together to follow up on recent communications from the Baptist Pension Scheme. If you have not seen this communication it can be found at The Baptist Union of Great Britain : Pensions.
The update contained in this communication is excellent news for the Baptist movement. We are delighted that following the signing of the contract with the insurance company Just Group (‘Just’) that the scheme is now in surplus for the first time in around 20 years. We are delighted that Deficit Repair Contributions will be reduced to a minimal level of £1 per employer per month from August 2022 onwards. This removes a significant financial drain on the finances of many of our churches.
Our first response must be one of thanks and praise to our God who has led us in addressing the deficit. There have been moments when we wondered if the pension scheme would sink us financially, but God has heard our cry and the burden has now lifted faster than we had ever hoped, as I suggested at Assembly this year. In May 2018 when we announced the Family Solution, we had hoped that we would be able to address the deficit within 10 years. By God’s grace, we stand here only slightly more than 4 years later able to bring you this excellent news.
I should sound a note of caution. There is still a good deal of work to be done to complete the closure of the Defined Benefit section of the Pension Scheme. However, it does appear likely (but not certain) that the scheme already has the funds needed to complete this work. However, because of the remaining risks the Direct Debit collections are being kept in place for now, albeit at the minimal amount of £1. Please continue to pray for the process of progressing the scheme towards wind up.
Whilst we have been paying increasing deficit contributions, giving to Home Mission has been consistently falling in real terms restricting the total grants we can give for mission and putting financial pressure on our Association and Specialist Teams. For those churches who have been paying deficit contributions, my request is that you now use 25% of the savings in Deficit Contribution Savings to increase your giving to Home Mission so that we can address some of the financial pressures across our Baptist Family. The Trustees of the Baptist Union approved a budget with a deficit of £116,000 for 2022 and we are currently behind target on income against that budget. On top of this, most of our Regional Associations are also running deficit budgets. I’m sure you understand that spending in excess of our income cannot be sustained indefinitely, which is why I make this request to your church, even though I am sure your budgets are also under strain with rising utility costs and other inflationary pressures.
If you have also reduced giving to BMS World Mission over this time you may want to use part of the 25% to increase your giving to BMS World Mission.
The Pension deficit has been a big challenge for all of us and has taken financial resources and attention away from our calling to bring Christ into our communities. Thank you for walking with us through this difficult period. It is our partnership in the Gospel which has enabled us to reach this point.
Finally, I am sure you would like to join me in thanking everyone who has contributed to the work to address the deficit in the Pension Scheme. There are too many to name individually, but God knows who they are, and I am sure they have stored up treasure in heaven through their labours.
John Levick
Honorary Treasurer