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How It Came
About
"Since its inception in 1845,
the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has always had one mission—the Great
Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). To fulfill its assigned part of this divine
mandate, each SBC entity made special offering appeals to the churches.
This method was referred to as the “societal” approach to missions and
resulted in severe financial deficits, competition among entities,
overlapping pledge campaigns, and frequent emergency appeals which greatly
hampered the expanding ministry opportunities God was giving Southern
Baptists. Some entities took out loans to cover operating costs until
pledges or special offerings were received.
In 1919, the leaders of the SBC proposed the 75
Million Campaign, a five-year pledge campaign that, for the first time,
included everything—the missions and ministries of all the state
conventions as well as that of the Southern Baptist Convention. Though
falling short of its goals, a God-given partnership of missions support
was conceived—The Cooperative Program. Since its launch in 1925, the
effectiveness of CP has been dependent upon individuals, churches, state
conventions, and SBC entities cooperating, working toward a common goal of
sharing the gospel with every person on the planet.
How It Works
Simply put, it begins with you. You give yourself first to
God (2 Cor. 5:8). Next, out of gratitude and obedience to God for what He
has done for you, you commit to give back to Him, through your church, a
portion of what He provides. This is commonly called a tithe and
represents ten percent of your income (Lev. 27:30, Mal. 3:10).
Your church decides the next step. Every year your church
prayerfully decides how much of its undesignated gifts will be committed
to reaching people in your state and around the world through Cooperative
Program (CP) Missions. This amount is then forwarded to your state Baptist
convention.
During
the annual meeting of your state convention, messengers from your church
and other churches across the state decide what percentage of CP Missions
gifts contributed by local congregations stays in your state to support
local missions and ministries. The percentage to be forwarded to the SBC
for North American and international missions and ministries is also
determined at this time.
At the SBC Annual Meeting, messengers from across the
country decide how the gifts received from the states will be distributed
among SBC entities. These gifts are used by Southern Baptist entities to
send and support missionaries, train pastors, missionaries, and other
ministry leaders; provide relief for retired ministers and widows; and
address social, moral, and ethical concerns relating to our faith and
families.
The bottom line – people around the world hear the gospel
and receive Christ.
Note: Your local Southern Baptist association does
not receive CP gifts directly. It ministers through gifts received
directly from churches and often receives CP gifts indirectly in the form
of support from state conventions and the North American Mission Board.
What It Does
Churches in your state work together through your state convention to
support a wide array of ministries and missions including: evangelism
efforts, children’s homes, volunteer missions, missions education, new
churches, colleges and universities, collegiate ministries, camps, and
much more. For additional information concerning your state convention,
log on to
www.sbc.net and click on state conventions.
Through the International Mission Board (www.imb.org),
Southern Baptists support approximately 5,300 missionaries who are
engaging more than 1,100 different people groups around the world.
New churches numbering over 1,455 are planted through the efforts of
more than 5,271 North American Missionaries, whose efforts are
coordinated through your North American Mission Board (www.namb.net)
and individual state conventions.
Working together, Southern Baptists saw 955,909 new believers baptized
in 2006!
Six Southern Baptist seminaries (Southern, Southeastern, Midwestern,
Southwestern, Golden Gate, and New Orleans) educate in excess of 16,000
pastors, missionaries, and future church leaders each year.*
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is dedicated to addressing
social, moral, and ethical concerns, with particular attention to their
impact on American families and their faith. They also provide print
resources that offer scriptural responses to the moral and ethical
problems of our culture.
Although they
receive no Cooperative Program support, LifeWay Christian Resources,
Guidestone Financial Resources and the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU)
actively promote Cooperative Program in publications and missions
resources.
Its Potential
If “two are better than o ne” (Eccl. 4:9), how much better
are more than 16 million?
This is the current membership in more than 44,696 Southern Baptist
churches across the United States. With a global population exceeding
6.5 billion and a command to take the gospel to every nation, we must
enhance our cooperative efforts if we are going to fulfill Christ’s
command.
To help Cooperative Program reach its potential, would
you please:
-
Pray.
Pray regularly for your Southern Baptist missionaries in your state
and around the globe. “Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out
workers.” Matthew 9:38 (HCSB)
-
Go.
Be involved in some sort of missions endeavor. Talk with your pastor
about the available opportunities. You are God’s missionary right
where you live. “Go...and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew
28:19 (HCSB)
-
Give.
Out of love for the Lord, give regularly to Him through your church.
If you are not tithing, begin to do so and also discover the
blessings of giving beyond the tithe. Encourage your church to
increase its participation in Cooperative Program.
“Since you excel in so many ways … now I want you to
excel also in this gracious ministry of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7 (NLT)
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse.” Malachi 3:10
(NKJV)
Thank you for your love for the Lord, your love for
people, and your participation in Cooperative Program.
Click here to see Cooperative Program contributions
by state conventions since its inception in 1925.
Beginning with the year 2006, information reflects SBC
fiscal year, October 1 – September 30, and is pulled from reports
submitted by state conventions and compared with the SBC Annual.
* Statistic found in the 2008 SBC Book of Reports
CP In Action
Southern
Baptists are a fellowship of over 16 million members in approximately
44,696
churches in all 50 states and Canada.
These churches
work together through approximately 1,186 associations, 42 state
conventions and the
Southern Baptist
Convention
to accomplish through voluntary cooperation far more than they could
ever do alone.
The Southern Baptist worldwide missions enterprise is funded in large
part through the unique, efficient, and equitable Cooperative Program. A
portion of the undesignated tithes and offerings of individuals received
by SBC churches becomes Cooperative Program dollars. In 2006, these
churches sent over $526 million through the Cooperative Program to their
state conventions to support work within the state and the Southern
Baptist Convention. As determined by messengers to the annual session of
each state convention, a percentage of these Cooperative Program
receipts is sent to the SBC Executive Committee for distribution to SBC
entities. In 2007, an average of 64 percent of total Cooperative Program
receipts was used for state convention ministries, and roughly 36
percent was forwarded to the SBC for national and worldwide ministries.
Messengers to the 2008 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention held
in Indianapolis, IN approved the SBC CP Allocation Budget for 2008-2009
of $205,716,834.
Teamwork Works! CP Children’s
Resource
"Everything (including fun) to guide
children in grades 1-5 to discover how they are part of a worldwide missions
team as their church participates in CP Missions. Teamwork Works! can be
used as a stand alone missions study during the summer or as a missions
supplement for churches who do not use traditional SBC missions materials
with their children. Eight (8) sessions highlight the ministries of state
and SBC entities. Teamwork Works! is designed to be reproduced on a copy
machine. State specific information can be inserted for use in session 2."
(Southern Baptist Convention)
Download Free PDF files.
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