BSSC Report

As we turn the page on COVID, the Baptist Sunday School Committee (BSSC) set five-year targets for the literature ministry in its annual April meeting. As churches have recovered from the pandemic, God has blessed, and literature sales improved 20% in the first quarter of 2022 versus 2021. We estimate the final impact on literature sales to be an overall reduction of 20%. VBS sales have rebounded but are still projected to be 40% lower than pre-pandemic levels. In 2018 we transitioned to a value-based financial approach that sets goals against target metrics and then manages based on performance against those metrics. We focused on two areas: cash flow and productivity. This approach served the BSSC well through two of the most difficult financial years in its history. We operated at a positive cash flow in the years 2020 and 2021 through improved productivity with less employees. When defining metrics, more than financial goals must be considered. The most significant way we assist churches is by providing tools to help in Bible studies and discipleship. So, the BSSC has chosen to focus on increasing the number of students we serve, approving a goal to increase the number of students we serve by 18% in the next five years. The art of publishing is an intellectual endeavor, in which 40% of our costs are employee costs. To meet the goal, we will have to improve productivity by 67%, with special emphases on marketing and product development improvements. Our studies demonstrate these targets are achievable if we embrace work processes to better utilize human capital and technologies to provide better products and services. God has delivered the BSSC through over 100 years of service, and we believe He wants us to serve in His light and with His love until His Son returns. Please pray with us as Moses prayed for Israel as they prepared for Canaan: “And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Psalm 90:17

Respectfully Submitted,

Dean Grigsby