The convention currently owns an office unit in a condo-business park in Urbandale in the Des Moines area. Space considerations prompted the need for a move to quarters with larger conference facilities and more storage. Three former church properties, in Waterloo, Davenport and Cedar Falls, also will be sold to finance the purchase and move to a new convention building. Any overage will be designated for church planting efforts.

At present the convention has not obtained a site or a building for purchase and relocation, but Jimmy Barrentine, BCI executive director-treasurer, said it now will have the authority to purchase and sell property as opportunities arise. The primary offices of the convention will continue to be located in the greater Des Moines area.

Ted Keys, pastor of Community Southern Baptist Church in Waterloo, was elected president of the convention after serving as first vice president the past year. Dan Wiersema, the outgoing president and pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, declined nomination for the traditional second term due to church and family considerations.

Also elected were Eugene Guthrie, pastor of Crestwood Baptist Church, as first vice president and Eric Schumacher, pastor of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, as second vice president. Jean Johnson, a member of Rolling Hills Community Church in Ft. Dodge, was re-elected as convention secretary. All officers were elected without opposition.

A ministry plan including a budget of $1,747,785 and anticipated Cooperative Program gifts of $113,288 from Iowa's churches was approved. The budget is up just over .1 percent from the current year and will continue to forward 20 percent of Cooperative Program receipts for SBC causes, with 80 percent to be utilized for Iowa Baptist ministries. Convention officials noted that the convention relies heavily on financial support from the North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources, GuideStone Financial Resources, Woman's Missionary Union and a partnership with the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

Messengers adopted resolutions in appreciation for faithful pastors and for godly wives of pastors; in appreciation to the Baptist Convention of Iowa staff; and making a fresh commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission and to the new Southern Baptist national evangelism strategy, God's Plan for Sharing. All resolutions were adopted without opposition.

In his presidential address, Wiersema spoke from 2 Corinthians 4:7-15 on "Treasure in Clay Jars." He described the imperfect vessels that God's people are as they carry the possessions and talents entrusted to them by the Lord. Wiersema recounted the day when, as a Texas Baptist church's pastor of senior adults, he turned 40 and a lady said to him, "Preacher boy, I want you to know that from this day forward the pain does not go away, it just moves around." Wiersma said Christians are to "die daily," referencing 1 Corinthians 15:30-31, as they exist in imperfect vessels to always add to God's glory.

"All of our lives we carry all this around in clay vessels or 'leaky buckets,'" Wiersema said. He told of a senior lady who was physically disabled from polio who would walk with a distinctive gait due to her leg braces. He could never remember a time when he did not see her without a smile.

"She had such a way of clunking into the church and spreading joy with her leaky bucket."

Wiersema challenged messengers with the question, "Will you take your leaky bucket and sprinkle around water to give life to flowers along the path?"

Barrentine, in his annual report as BCI executive director-treasurer, recognized employees and wives who have completed milestones in service to the convention: Richard and Rachel Nations, 15 years, and Jon and Mindy Jamison, Roger and Missy Graves and James and Kathy Robinson, 10 years. Continued...