From the 2nd Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention:
For the record, I don’t make any money from the Cooperative Program (the 2nd VP position is not a paid position); no one encouraged me to write this post. My church supports the Cooperative Program with 16% of our monthly undesignated receipts. New Salem Baptist Church believes in the Cooperative Program. I do too. You should as well…
As a youngish Southern Baptist pastor–32 years of age–I’m concerned about the waning support of the Cooperative Program in the SBC. I’ve heard young Southern Baptist pastors complain about the Cooperative Program–how money is wasted in the Cooperative Program. Whatever your reasoning may be for not supporting the Cooperative Program, I invite you to reconsider your reasoning. I invite you to come help us reform our ministries and entities according to Scripture, and to sweat and bleed with us until all nations praise His name!
The reality is that we cannot build or support as much as the Cooperative Program supports on our own. If we try to build something equivalent to the Cooperative Program, it will be susceptible to the same sinful waste as any other missions endeavor. The answer is reformation, not exodus. The answer is correcting the waste or whatever the other issues we perceive that keep us from supporting the Cooperative Program. We shouldn’t try to “reinvent the wheel.” Thus, I plead with all pastors, young and not-so-young, to support the Cooperative Program because it’s still the best cooperative missions endeavor in the world… and we can make it even better together…
We should support the Cooperative Program for at least these 4 reasons:
1. The “All nations” Great Commission:
In Matthew 28:19, Christ told His disciples to “make disciples of all nations.” The Cooperative Program “through the International Mission Board (www.imb.org),” supports “approximately 5,624 missionaries who are engaging 655 people groups, of populations greater than 100,000, around the world” (source here). Plus, the International Mission Board has the resources to train these missionaries, place them, take care of their families, etc.
2. The Church Planting Disciple-making Biblical Model:
What did the disciples do in obedience to Christ’s Great Commission command (Matt. 28:18-20)? They started churches throughout the known world. Through supporting the Cooperative Program, “new churches numbering over 1,364 are planted through the efforts of more than 5,304 North American Missionaries.” These “efforts are coordinated through your North American Mission Board (www.namb.net) and individual state conventions” (source here).
“Working together, Southern Baptists saw 855,756 new believers baptized in 2009!” (Source here)
3. The Confessional, Biblical-Training by Top Christian Scholars and Seasoned Pastors:
Through Cooperative Program giving, you support “six Southern Baptist seminaries (Southern, Southeastern, Midwestern, Southwestern, Golden Gate, and New Orleans)” that “educate in excess of 16,000 pastors, missionaries, and future church leaders each year” (source here).
4. The Confessional, Christian and Southern Baptist Worldview Representation in the Market Place of Ideas:
Through cooperative program giving, we support the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). The ERLC “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” (source here).
If you tried to start another missions endeavor similar to the Cooperative Program, could you make it immune from the imperfections you see in the Cooperative Program today? No. As long as imperfect Christians lead these ministries, and the evil one is still looking for people to devour, our best endeavors will be susceptible to sin and error. The answer is constant reformation according to Scripture, not exodus.
Furthermore, how long would it take you to start and sustain a “perfect International Mission Board,” a “perfect North American Mission Board,” six “perfect seminaries,” a “perfect representation on Capitol Hill,” etc? Not only are perfect entities a myth, it would take more than 1 lifetime to start and grow a missions endeavor comparable to the Cooperative Program today (of course, God can work miracles). Thus, instead of trying to “reinvent the wheel” by sending our monies elsewhere, the answer is to reform our entities and ministries according to the Scriptures alone. In other words pastor, if you think you can do a better job than our current leaders and entities, instead of going off on your own to start something new, get involved in the local, state, and national associations and convention(s) to help us reform our ministries and entities! Help us constantly ask and answer the question, “Are we using God’s resources in the best possible way to fulfill His Great Commission for His glory”? Come help us reform our ministries and entities according to Scripture, and sweat and bleed with us until all nations praise His name!
What are your thoughts?
When you examine the actual percentages that make it to the mission field, the marketing efforts, including this article, are simply disingenuous. For our church, in the great state of Mississippi, less than 18% of our CP funds are making it to the mission field. We are however gloriously supporting several seminaries, the WMU, and other agencies. I was angry when I realized that I had been selling the CP from the pulpit to my people and had not looked at the actual numbers myself. I would encourage every SBC pastor to examine the actual percentages within their own state… Read more »
If the other ‘slices of the pie’ could be collected for separately from the missions money, would folks contribute more to the missions?
It is called a Cooperative Program for a reason. We don’t take up a hundred different offerings, but fund everything out of one hopper. What you suggest is essentially the death of the CP.
I am aware of your anti-SBC feelings, but we value the CP because it allows us to join together as churches to fund all (or most) of our work out of one funding source.
It’s been decades (8 of them, roughly) since Southern Baptists did it that way, and the history seems to show that when we did it all piecemeal, we did a whole lot….less. Just in general. We had, if the history book on my shelf is right, underfunded missions groups; underfunded seminaries; underfunded in-state ministry efforts. Altogether. Because each group raised funds in competition with each other, rather than working together to fund everything. What gets priority? Paying for a missionary on the field or supporting the training of the next missionary? Or funding the collegiate ministry that does direct evangelism… Read more »
This comment sums up a lot of what I have been wrestling with. Thank you for taking the time to share this.
It depends, I suppose, on how you describe the mission field. I’m thinking that for Jesus the mission field included Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. We sometimes think of just the uttermost parts of the earth bit, but the mission field is all over, and CP giving supports missions and ministry work all over.
Which is not to say that there aren’t any problems with allocations and how various entities, agencies, and conventions spend their money. But we don’t need to feel like money isn’t getting to the mission field if it is going to the mission field t home.
Not being argumentative, but if the mission field is at home, and we shouldn’t feel guilty about the money staying there, why should the local church give outside its immediate community since every community has its lost? I think that many SBs who are aware of how the pie is cut are a little concerned with how little is given to the missionaries reaching the unreached groups/little evangelized peoples. Though our church is small, we have chosen to give proportionally more to Lottie than the cooperative program for this reason.
Because it’s Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. Our reach is to be near and far.
I believe I understand the ramifications before I ask this but……If one believed there was a more pressing need for missionaries to reach those areas of the world that have not yet heard the Gospel, is there a compelling reason to NOT designate a more substantial portion of one’s giving to Lottie rather than the cooperative program in general? I understand the state structures, the seminaries, the ERLC, and the NAMB slices of the pie, and I know if all churches were to do this designated giving, it would mean a massive re-structuring. Just a question….
Great article, Jared! (A broken clock is right twice a day.)
I love Calvinists.
Let us love one another.
David
Awwwww……that so sweet. I’m touched VolFan. 😉
Wait. Or is tetched? :-/
Rick, David…now William commending Jared on an article of his.
I do have an observation that I will make later about Jared’s piece but I don’t have any disagreement.
[…though as a PhD seminary student and as a pastor, Jared does receive benefits out of the CP but not a paycheck]
Pastors don’t receive benefits through CP (the various nebulous convention services to churches don’t count). Seminary students don’t exactly receive benefits – tuition may be lower at the seminaries across the board, but that’s not the same as the student receiving something.
Many old-line states do provide a benefit or two to pastors who are Annuity Board participants and it’s CP funded. When I was in GA, there was both a little money into my Annuity Board account and disability insurance. Here in AR, it’s long-term disability insurance and a decreasing death benefit–the older I get, the less it’s worth. You have to be contributing a certain amount (not sure how much) to your Guidestone Financial Resources of the Great Commission Convention of Southern Baptists and Associated Friends Account, and meet a few other qualifications, but that’s there in many states. It’s… Read more »
I guess it was my own naïveté that got to me. When most people hear “missions” or anything related to “missions giving” I believe they are thinking specifically about Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Not seminaries, DOM salaries, WMUs, etc., all of which are getting far more than the IMB or the NAMB, which I whole-heartlessly support. I don’t know about you guys, but along with my seminary degrees came a significant amount of debt. With as much monies being allocated to each seminary from the state associations, our men an women in seminaries shouldn’t have… Read more »
While some states may include some very limited WMU funding, they are mostly supported by literature sales. They are not “hard wired” into the CP.
William,
Give me a minute to dig, but I want to tell you ours approached 6 figures.
Chris, I’m not trying to pry open an obvious wound, but the issue of going into debt to get a seminary degree was yours. And while I understand there is a time and a place for some debt, others, such as myself, worked my way through two degrees in seminary, all while supporting my wife and three children. So, if the money should be reallocated and seminaries receive less, then costs will increase all the more. Have you ever checked what Trinity or RTS or DTS or other seminaries cost for students? Furthermore, the training of SBC pastors is beneficial… Read more »
Nate,
It’s not a wound by any means, but it is what it is. My point is everyone in seminary pays a hefty sum for their education even though those costs are reportedly offset by CP giving. And those missionaries you mentioned, haven’t the numbers been trending down lately because there is no money to send them?
But if there is no money is that because of the current trend to no longer give to the CP? Lottie Moon offerings continue to trend up, so it’s not that. There is certainly a problem and I’m not sure there are easy answers, but I will contend that if churches continue to eschew the CP, missions will continue to suffer, regardless of how much those decrying the CP say they are giving to missions on the side. Your statement actually backs my argument. And, I’m glad to hear your situation isn’t getting you down too badly. Eat the elephant… Read more »
CP is and will continue to be a funding behemoth, hundreds of millions. LM/AA show less vulnerability to funding decreases, enough to be significant statistically.
One presumes that what churches are doing is cutting or not increasing their CP percentages but attempting to increase or maintain their mission offerings. Also, more churches are budgeting for LM/AA either in addition to the seasonal offerings or concomitant with them.
Let me amend that to say that at the national level WMU is not in the CP budget. My state, and others I suppose, does fund some staff. WMU programs, national organization are not commonly funded through the CP. IOW, it isn’t a major part of the CP.
I’d still like to see what your state does, though.
Good question. The answer probably depends on the church. I the past few years CP has dropped at a rate greater than IMB and NAMB meaning that churches are more likely to cut their CP than the two boards.
At least one state is funding IMB directly in their budget, bypassing Nashville for part of their CP receipts.
I don’t disagree with Jared on this and do agree with his four reasons. But there’s a ghost in his article and the ghost, unseen and unmentioned, is the reality that most Cooperative Program dollars are spent before the IMB, the NAMB, the six seminaries, or ERLC get a dime. I’m reasonably sure he knows this and I have no issue with his focus being solely on the SBC part of the CP. But what inevitably happens is that some who are familiar enough to understand this will raise the point about the IMB getting only about 20 cents out… Read more »
Not disagreeing with you, Dave, but the SBC has a lot of hoppers of which CP is the largest and most critical to our common work.
If I ever get some energy I’d like to examine the seminaries and mission boards to see what percentages of their budgets are from CP these days compared with 20 years ago.
Thanks Jared for an excellent article. We need to keep reminding ourselves of the importance of the Cooperative Program to our missions programs. I have been sharing this same message for over 35 years in churches all across our convention. I was supported at least partly by the cooperative program for over 30 years as an IMB missionary. I received support as a student at SWBTS. I share the same state convention as Doug and as a young person I received support at RA camp, Siloam Springs Assembly and Ouachita University through funds given to our state through the cooperative… Read more »
The number came from the Mississippi Baptist Association website. I can provide you a link if needed and would like to see what other state associations have on theirs.
This is interesting … goes back to 1925.
Historically the division between all states and the SBC coopertive program is roughly always favored state conventions roughly 65% / 35%.
http://www.cpmissions.net/2003/pdf/HistoryDivisionCooperativeProgramFunds.pdf
Guys, college football is on. I’ll post the link to the MS info. Here’s one link worth reading, even if dated: http://blog.founders.org/2008/12/its-time-for-southern-baptists-to-get.html?m=1
Here’s where my 18% number came from and it refers to IMB gifts. http://www.mbcb.org/download/br/2012%20CP.pdf
The split today is in keeping with historic averages; however, the ground has shifted underneath the state conventions and most have responded to grassroots initiatives to move towards 50/50, which may or may not mean an equal division depending on the accounting used.
I’m a big time proponent ofthe CP. It’s a great strategy in principle and I’m glad it exists. That said… If churches believe that giving their determined percentage or flat amount to the CP is the extent of giving to missions…in tat respect it could be counterproductive. Also, if they believe these contributions fulfills the great commission – that too is counterproductive. Antecdotaly I know of several church pastors and or memberships that feel that way. I say this not to brag but to illustrate that we don’t rest on the CP as being the fulfillment of our obligation to… Read more »
Here is a piece about recent CP giving compared to LM ans AA giving: http://sbcplodder.blogspot.com/2013/06/while-cooperative-program-languishes.html Excerpt: “The CP was up in Georgia for 2012 by 1.67%, very good news here in light of the fact that it has dropped by millions over the past few years. However, offerings to NAMB were up 6.88% and offerings to the IMB were up a lusty 9.22% over the previous year….Southern Baptists have far more enthusiasm for North American and International missions than they do for the catch-all Cooperative Program.” This isn’t to say that the CP isn’t critical. It does explain in part… Read more »
Until this past week, I would have said, yes to supporting the cooperative program. Now I question it. After all, LifeWay has hired a son of John Piper who attends a Presbyterian Church, because he thinks baptism is a fence between Evangelicals. Well, that is a new spin reason for an old practice which the Moderates were pursuing, when they were in power. Now our Conservatives are hiring someone to be a content evaluator and an employ, when we have plenty of people who hold to the practices which made the Southern Baptist Churches. A local association would put out… Read more »
The last I heard Lifeway gives to the CP out of its profits. It does not receive CP funds.
That’s correct. no CP funds to lifeway. For they’re for profit.
Even so…I’ve got bigger problems with Lifeway than thier hiring of Piper….how about their peddling of health, wealth, and prosperity heresy of Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, Copeland, Meyer, and others…..or the front and center displaying of modalists like TD Jakes. The heretical “fiction” books like the shack…..
Peddleing of Heresy bothers me a lot more than hiring a content evaluater who is wrong on baptism but otherwise holds sound orthodox evangelical theology.
I have major issues with some of Lifeway’s decisions. Once upon a time, they were slightly more trustworthy.
Technically, Lifeway’s a “Non-profit” in terms of its operations. They do have to break even, though, so it’s a business as much as a ministry. Lifeway also feeds a percentage back into the CP, but they do not receive from the CP.
They also support the Ed Stetzer Foundation for Ministers that Cannot Grow Facial Hair. Mainly through awareness.
To affirm the claim that Lifeway is a nonprofit I offer a snippet of the About Us page:
“LifeWay is a nonprofit organization that reinvests income above operating expenses in mission work and other ministries around the world. For more information about LifeWay, read our vision, values, and mission.”
Oh, my bad….I thought they were…I stand corrected.
They do not get CP money and I’m pretty sure they are not an entity of the SBC. (but I was pretty sure they were “for profit” too..so I could be wrong.)
Aren’t they like whatever the WMU is?
Lifeway is an entity of the SBC–back in the day it was the Sunday School Board, and there were 4 groups with “Board” status: Sunday School, Annuity, Foreign Mission, and Home Mission. They are “non-profit” but that does not mean they operate at a loss, it simply means that, at the end of the day, the money goes either back into the operation or to specified non-profit organizations. For Lifeway, that’s either the CP or the ESFMCGFH mentioned above. The SBC elects the Trustees who serve as the corporate board for Lifeway. WMU elects its own leadership, and serves as… Read more »
LifeWay just generates its own revenues. They have been making a token CP gift. If they generate larger profits and surplus they find ways to spend it. It’s a balance. If they are short they just raise literature prices.
I don’t have any big complaints about them but they are like a soft monopoly I that they have a big revenue generator they can tap because of that and inefficiencies are inherent.
Anyone not understand that LifeWay is big enough to hire whomever they wish and create special jobs for those who need a job?
Doug, I don’t think it is a percentage back to CP but O haven’t checked.
It may be just a token these days…once upon a time it was actually a set percentage, but I would not be surprised if that had changed.
I think it was 5% at the time, and I remember thinking when I heard that “Why not just cut prices for literature?”
I also don’t know if that was 5% of revenue or 5% of “profit.” That would make a big difference.
That has surely changed by now, but that’s what I learned years ago in a seminary class on how CP was split up and where it all went.
Lifeway surely generates enough to hire who they want…and since we allowed them, years ago, to try and market beyond Baptist-dom, we ought to expect that they are going to hire from outside the limited range that is the SBC. And guess what? They’ll market from whomever into the SBC, and so many will buy the flavor-of-the-month that they could have hired the Pope to a side gig, and they could afford it. We sincerely need to think more deeply about what we buy. If we don’t want Lifeway to sell it, then we shouldn’t buy it, promote it, or… Read more »
Lifeway’s selling of things that promote false views is a travesty upon our historic faith and the practices that Baptists have pursued hitherto. and their giving of the profits to missions is really a violation of our idea that giving should be the means of support for the mission effort, not the profits from sales. After all, why quibble with those who want to hold barbecue to support a church, when we believe it is to be supported with free will offerings and tithes?