CBF Shows “Modest Growth”

                                                                                                                                                                       Vol. X, No. 8, Sep/Oct 1997

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ended its 1996-97 fiscal year with $13,293,800 in contributions, an increase of 4.3 percent over the previous year. A total of 1,615 churches forwarded contributions during the year, compared to 1,514 in 1995-96. The modest increase continues a recent trend of slow growth, in contrast to the double-digit growth rate CBF enjoyed in its first three years.

That reality forced CBF's Coordinating Council earlier in the year to revise the budget from $14.1 million to $12,580,000, resulting in painful reductions in the Fellowship's operating budget and in anticipated allocations to new seminaries and other partner organizations.

The fiscal belt-tightening, plus approved use of approximately $1.5 million in reserve funds, did keep CBF in the black. Operating budget receipts for the year (excluding designated, "pass through" gifts to Baptist state conventions and CBF partner organizations which are included in total contributions) were $185,000 over the revised budget.

CBF leaders have pointed to a variety of causes for the plateaued growth. Two factors cited most often:

(1) a year-long leadership transition from Cecil Sherman's announcement of his retirement as CBF's first coordinator to Daniel Vestal's election as his successor; and

(2) significant growth among CBF state and regional organizations. [Apparently the implication is that the state chapters are diverting funds to their own activities. TCP]

The General Assembly approved a missions and ministries budget of $14.3 million for the 1997-98 fiscal year which began July 1. [Above reprinted from the September 1997 issue of fellowship!, the CBF newsletter.]

[Editorial Comment: The 1,615 churches which “forwarded contributions” during the fiscal year include both those churches which have CBF in their budgets and those churches which do NOT have CBF as part of the church budget but which do send any gifts designated for CBF by one or more church members. Apparently not even CBF knows exactly how many churches have the organization in their budgets. The most common estimate is about half, or a few more than 800. TCP]