The Baptist Courier

“The executive committee is comprised of the board chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, and 2 at-large members that rotate annually. The scope of the committee's authority is limited. The committee can address minimal items but it does not have authority regarding hiring/firing, asset acquisitions or sales, nor can the executive committee enter into any contracts or agreements for the organization. All of these items must be brought for full board approval.”

“The governing body of the baptist courier is vested in a board of trustees, elected by the south carolina baptist convention in the manner and for the terms prescribed in the charter of the institution, in accordance with the action of the convention. The south carolina baptist convention is an association of cooperating churches which meets annually for two days to conduct convention business. Each church that contributes to the cooperative program and adheres to the baptist faith and message 2000 is allowed to send a delegation of messengers to the annual meeting. Messengers register in advance and credentials are issued (including voting ballots) to qualified messengers. The messengers elect the trustees of the baptist courier.”

“The messengers to the south carolina baptist convenation must approve all changes or amendments to the organization's articles of incorporation, approve dissolution of the corporation or any merger and approve the sale, lease, exchange or disposal of all or substantially all of the organization's property.”

“Form 990 is prepared by an independent cpa firm and reviewed in detail by the organization's top management. The reviewed form 990 is then provided to the board of directors prior to filing with the irs.”

“The organization requires all officers and board members to annually complete and sign a conflict of interest questionnaire. The executive committee is responsible for reviewing the signed statements and ensuring that interested persons are in compliance with the conflict of interest policy. Should any potential conflicts of interest be disclosed, the board member or officer would be asked to refrain from participation in any deliberation or decision with regard to matters affected by the relationship.”

“Line 15a: the compensation committee assesses the compensation of the president/editor annually to determine the reasonableness and competitiveness of compensation; comparability data is used; this approval is documented in the board minutes. Line 15b: the president/editor sets the salary and benefits of the other officers, using comparability data. Further, the president/editor consults with the compensation committee during this annual process. The independent board of trustees approves the officers' compensation annually; this approval is documented in the board minutes.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Compensation reported in part vii, column d and schedule j, part ii, column b is the amount reported on the individual's w-2, box 1 or 5 (whichever amount is greater) per the irs instructions. In the case of minister's compensation when box 5 of the w-2 is not applicable, box 1 compensation is used. Employee deferrals to qualified retirement plans are normally captured in box 5, not box 1 of form w-2. For reporting purposes we have included the minister's retirement plan deferrals in part vii, column f and schedule j, part ii, column c.”