CP giving grows by 0.5%

by Staff                                                                                                                                                      Vol. XVI, No. 9, Nov/Dec 2003

Cooperative Program giving reached another record level in the 2002-03 fiscal year, but increased by only 0.48%. Founded in 1925, the Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists' method of supporting missions and ministry efforts of state and regional conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention.

For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, receipts to the Cooperative Program totaled $183,201,694.14 -- an increase of $878,583.94 over the 2001-02 amount of $182,323,110.20.

The end-of-the-fiscal-year data was released Oct. 2, just one week after the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee adopted a report warning of a future financial "crisis" unless giving increases. The report warned against "celebrating incremental gains in income when real giving is dropping." It said that being content with incremental gains "fails to properly challenge Southern Baptists to do what is required of stewards."

The report disclosed a decades-old trend showing a gradual decline in giving as a percentage of ability -- by individuals to churches and by churches to the Cooperative Program.

Morris H. Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, said that while giving as a percentage of ability has declined, he is "thankful for those numbers of churches and individuals who continue to give sacrificially to support Southern Baptist missions, ministries and theological education in order to reach the world."

CP giving has reached record levels in recent years, but has not kept pace with inflation or needs -- leading last year to delays in the deployment of missionaries, a layoff of employees at both missions boards, and an increase in seminary tuition, the report said.

State and regional conventions retain a portion of church contributions to the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program to support work in their respective areas and forward a percentage to Southern Baptist national and international causes. The percentage of distribution is at the discretion of each state or regional convention. [BP]