VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 2/8/13)—MMBB Financial Services (The Ministers and Missionairies Benefit Board) announced that Mr. Louis P. Barbarin will assume the role of executive director on March 1, 2013, following Rev. Dr. Sumner Grant’s retirement. The MMBB Board of Managers met in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to make its unanimous decision to appoint Mr. Barbarin, MMBB’s current deputy executive director, chief financial officer and treasurer, to this position.
“Louis has served MMBB with distinction for the past 14 years,” said Rev. Dr. George H. Tooze, Jr., president, MMBB Board of Managers. “He knows the organization and the people. He is dedicated to our ministry. The decision to appoint Louis was not a hard one for the Board—we are confident that he will continue to lead MMBB forward as a financial services organization dedicated to real planning and real solutions.”
Mr. Barbarin initially joined MMBB as assistant treasurer; he was elected treasurer in 1998. In 2010, Louis assumed the role of deputy executive director, assisting The Rev. Dr. Grant with strategic and tactical initiatives that support MMBB’s mission.
Prior to joining MMBB, Mr. Barbarin served as the deputy executive director and treasurer of the American Baptist Board of Education and Publication.
Other experiences include serving as controller and acting vice president of finance at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and a professional career at the accounting firm of KPMG.
“It’s an honor to have been selected for this role,” said Mr. Barbarin. “I have worked closely with Sumner over the years and have appreciated his steadfast commitment to providing benefits and protections to clergy and lay church workers who are without. I am looking forward to working with MMBB’s dedicated staff to expand our ministry to new faith-based organizations and to serve our members with generosity and justice.”
Mr. Barbarin holds a Bachelors of Science in Accounting and a Masters in Finance from Pennsylvania State University and has completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He is licensed as a certified public accountant in New York and Pennsylvania.
He currently serves on the Board of The Interchurch Center as treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee. Mr. Barbarin also serves on the Board and Finance Committees of the Kendal Corporation, a network of continuous care retirement communities that provide housing and other services to its residents. Prior volunteer experiences include Habitat for Humanity of Chester County, The American Baptist Foundation, ABCON Credit Union and Trinity Press International.
“MMBB Financial Services (The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board) offers flexible and affordable benefits packages to faith-based employers and their staff throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. MMBB carries forward the 100-year tradition of The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board—pioneers in providing employee benefits. With $2.5 billion in assets, MMBB offers clients the consultative services they need to succeed. Real planning, real solutions. That’s our calling.”
Initially focused on institutions associated with the Northern Baptist Convention (later renamed the American Baptist Convention and then American Baptist Churches USA), MMBB now offers benefits to any church or faith-based organization with similar faith and practice of ABCUSA.
A non-profit Christian organization, The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB) has served churches and faith-based organizations since 1911. With a strong expertise of the ministry and its complex tax laws and other financial issues, MMBB serves more than 17,000 members across a wide range of denominations, offering “one-stop shopping” for employees including retirement, life, disability, medical and dental plans—to ensure that employers and their employees have sound peace of mind and financial security.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.