The Board of Directors of the Arkansas Baptist Foundation (ABF) held its Quarterly Board Meeting on Thursday, August 13^th at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) building. The session marked the first time the Foundation has held an August board meeting in this building and featured updates from ABSC leaders alongside agency and entity reports from Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries (ABCFM), Ouachita Baptist University (OBU), and Williams Baptist University (WBU).

The meeting opened with a devotional led by Laramie LeQuieu, President of the ABSC and an ABF advisory board member. Drawing from 3 John as part of a sermon series titled “One Hit Wonders,” LeQuieu contrasted Gaius, who was commended for generously supporting kingdom workers, with Diotrephes, who opposed them. He praised the ABF’s board as “the Gaiuses of our day and time” for financially undergirding kingdom work across Arkansas and challenged the Board to consider how they would be remembered. Encouraging continued faithfulness in supporting and enabling ministry statewide, LeQuieu concluded with a prayer for a faithful heart, an obedient spirit, and God’s blessing on the Foundation’s work.

Highlights of the board meeting included:

• Mark Dance, Executive Director of the ABSC, provided an update on his first year in his role and the health of the Convention. He celebrated five consecutive years of growth in baptisms and worship attendance, describing Arkansas as one of the healthiest conventions in the country. Reporting from his listening tour through 17 associations, he emphasized pastor-centric support and noted that findings from these conversations informed the recent restructuring to better steward resources for local churches and pastors.

• Derek Brown, Executive Director of Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries (ABCFM), reported continued growth in counseling and family services, with more than 70 counselors and over 32,000 counseling sessions provided annually. He highlighted the Healthy Family Initiative, which offers counseling and retreat opportunities for pastors and ministry families while strengthening relationships and ministry effectiveness. Brown also shared that Connected Families served 507 children in Christian homes last year, providing approximately 75,000 nights of care and helping 146 children achieve permanent family placements. He concluded with updates on Family Service Centers in Jonesboro and Central Arkansas, which are expanding access to counseling, foster care, adoption, and family reunification services across the state.
• Dr. Ben Sells, President of OBU, highlighted the university’s growing counseling program, with its first cohort set to graduate in December 2026, and reported on the continued success of the Foundation-partnered Ary Student Investment Fund, which has grown from approximately $200,000 a decade ago to over $6 million. He also shared updates on a newly installed campus cross, strengthened trustee commitments to Ouachita’s mission and values, and the university’s achievement of tying for the highest graduation rate in Arkansas. Sells concluded by discussing challenges related to accelerated student graduation timelines and the evolving landscape of collegiate athletics recruitment and retention.
• Dr. Stan Norman, President of WBU, highlighted student success through the Williams Works program, shared updates on a campus-wide emphasis on prayer, and reported progress toward a new recreation and wellness center. He noted the continued expansion of Williams Works, including plans for a new Ministry Workstation supported by the ABSC’s Ministry Scholarship and estate gifts through the Foundation. Norman also highlighted recent approval of an agribusiness degree program and a new partnership with a vocational-technical institution aimed at supporting workforce development and expanding educational opportunities across the region.
• Bobby Thomas, ABF President, reviewed the distribution summary through June 30th, including year to date distributions of $21,969,358. He also shared the ABF in partnership with GuideStone will host a Retirement & Estate Planning pre-conference workshop on Monday, October 19th at 10:00am in advance of this year’s Pastors Conference.

• The Board voted to continue the 5% distribution rate from ABF’s Spending Plan Fund to maintain consistent ministry funding in 2027.