wfn.org | ABC - MMBB distributes Thank You Checks to Retired

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

MMBB DISTRIBUTES $1.1 MILLION TO RETIRED ABC MINISTERS, MISSIONARIES, AND LAY EMPLOYEES

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 11/26/08) ? The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB) announced today that it has distributed $1,125,881 to nearly 4,000 retired ABCUSA ministers, missionaries, their surviving spouses and retired lay employees of ABC churches and related organizations in 2008. Checks ranged from $50 to $374.

?MMBB was founded nearly 100 years ago for the better maintenance of the ministry,? stated MMBB?s executive director, Sumner M. Grant. ?The Thank You checks we distribute around Thanksgiving are an important part of our effort to fulfill this mission.?

The Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering
(RMMO) is the largest part of this effort. Through the generous contributions of ABCUSA congregations to the RMMO, MMBB was able to send 3,238 Thank You checks, totaling $837,652, to retired American Baptist ministers and missionaries, or their surviving spouses.

Since 1980 MMBB has also sent Thank You checks drawn directly from MMBB funds to eligible retired lay employees. In November, MMBB sent 639 checks, totaling $115,229, to these valued annuitants.

In addition to the Thank You checks, MMBB distributed an additional $173,000 from RMMO funds to eligible retirees with emergency and other financial needs.

The purpose of the RMMO, expressed in the theme Remember with Love?Give with Gratitude, is to give American Baptist congregations a tangible means of honoring retired ABC ministers and missionaries, or their surviving spouses. The offering provides:

* Thank You checks to those with at least 15 years of dedicated ABC service; and

* Emergency and other financial assistance, based on financial need.

The RMMO will be received by most ABC congregations on Sunday, December 7, 2008, and many of those congregations will continue accepting contributions through the end of December. Promotional materials are available from Judson Press at 800.458.3766 or online at www.abc-usa.org/missions/retired.aspx. A link to the RMMO resources can also be found on www.abc-usa.org in the RMMO advertisement on the right of the home page.

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