...and I'm happy to help. Squirrels, those rats of the forest with long fluffy tails, are being brought back from the 'dead'. Rodent CPR. Why? Complaints are being noised that our ERLC leader can't get into the White House. But we do have a few megapastors who seem to get there and end up being photographed standing beside prosperity gospel superstar Paula White. God bless Russell Moore. Don't worry about the world ending a week from Monday, National Geographic sez. Instead, plan for the usual Global Warming catastrophes. Seems that there has long been a conspiracy theory (Nibiru, … [Read more...] about Things you probably need to know…
A few stray observations about the Grand Old SBC these days
Seems that "objectify" is the term du jour in our circles. Many of the brethren need help understanding this. I suggest asking the closest female. Steve Gaines says we are at a "pivotal" time. In my best curmudgeonly way, I'd call it the wrong term. We are clearly in the midst of a generation change, and that whether the youthful J. D. Greear or the senior adult Ken Hemphill is elected. But "pivotal," is ridiculously overused these days. The SBC doesn't pivot. It shifts direction by tiny degrees and fractions of degrees. Regardless of the election outcome, we will change little. The new … [Read more...] about A few stray observations about the Grand Old SBC these days
How many churches give around the Cooperative Program?
This is a bit of a trick question and certainly a tricky question to answer. There has always been available to churches a manner by which they might bypass their state convention and give directly to the Executive Committee for distribution to the seminaries and mission boards and other entities receiving funds through the Cooperative Program Allocation Budget. The church sends directly to Nashville and the EC what would ordinarily be sent to the state as Cooperative Program money. While this is cooperative in the sense that it joins with other churches in funding SBC missions and education, … [Read more...] about How many churches give around the Cooperative Program?
Great Commission Giving is a mess…but has usefulness
Great Commission Giving was intended to be a metric that lumped all SBC giving, Cooperative Program and societal, into one sum for each church. The latest figure for GCG was $646,017,306. That's a pretty good sum and being the veteran braggers that we SBCers are, it's a good figure to toss out there. But it is a flawed statistic. Consider the following. Baptist Press reported on the giving record of the church pastored by the announced nominee for First Vice President. For 2016 -- the last year for which data is available from the SBC's Annual Church Profile -- New Seasons classified … [Read more...] about Great Commission Giving is a mess…but has usefulness
CP is up by millions: Can we live with prosperity or mess it all up?
Our venerable Cooperative Program is doing well this fiscal year. Baptist Press reports from the SBC Executive Committee that National CP 4.9% ahead of mid-year projection. The $100,706,826.63 received by the Executive Committee for the first six months of the fiscal year, Oct. 1 through March 31, for distribution through the Cooperative Program Allocation Budget represents 104.90 percent of the $96,000,000.00 year-to-date budgeted projection to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America. The total is $2,358,588.29 or 2.40 percent more than the $98,348,238.34 … [Read more...] about CP is up by millions: Can we live with prosperity or mess it all up?
Who “fully supports” the Cooperative Program?
Since no Southern Baptist church is forced to give to our wonderful, common, funding mechanism the Cooperative Program, how helpful is it to classify any church's percentage CP giving as fully cooperative or less than fully cooperative and more of an indicator of societal giving? My view is that in isolation, using a church's CP percentage as a measure of their cooperativeness or of their Southernbaptistness is ultimately harmful. Randy Adams, the Executive Director of the SBC state convention known as the Northwest Baptist Convention, an area covering Oregon, Washington, and northern … [Read more...] about Who “fully supports” the Cooperative Program?
Most SBC mission support is still Cooperative Program, not societal
Fears that the SBC may be returning to a societal method of mission support are unfounded if one looks at dollars given by the churches. While it is impossible to compile and categorize all mission giving by the 47,232 SBC churches, the data that is available seems sufficient to conclude that in spite of all the handwringing over the demise of the Cooperative Program, most church support for SBC causes is still through our venerable and wonderful Cooperative Program. Here are a few factoids: The total CP for 2015-2016 was $475.2 million. The total for the designated major offerings … [Read more...] about Most SBC mission support is still Cooperative Program, not societal
What is this “neo-societal method of giving” that Ken Hemphill writes about?
Churches have reduced their level of giving, and, many have moved to a method of giving that is neo-societal: They give a small percentage through the traditional Cooperative Program option and then give the remainder of their mission dollars through designated giving, some to Southern Baptist entities and some through other mission agencies. – Ken Hemphill, in an article on his Louisiana Baptist Convention hosted campaign website. Money is an issue in SBC life, particularly the systems of giving and allocation of SBC churches denominational gifts. I don't object to anyone raising … [Read more...] about What is this “neo-societal method of giving” that Ken Hemphill writes about?
Church treasurer arrested after funds go missing
...the alleged embezzlement amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars and that many mission offerings and pastor’s retirement payments for a 23-year period were unpaid. Hannibal-area church treasurer arrested after funds go missing The lament of church financial advisors and accountants is that they cannot get churches and pastors to pay attention to the fact that they are highly susceptible to having church money stolen by trusted members who are volunteer treasurers and secretaries. The quote above ought to get the pastor's attention. I have to stifle the feeling that there's … [Read more...] about Church treasurer arrested after funds go missing
Satellite SBC meetings and remote voting: the best terrible idea around
Happens every spring: someone has a eureka moment and asks, "Why can't the SBC Annual Meeting be held in both a central location and numerous satellite locations?" The arguments are always the same. Some tout benefits seen as inherently positive and some arguments express a dissatisfaction with current decisions of the SBC that would be solved by greatly broadened participation. Here's a sampling of comments.. There is no way my church can afford to send messengers all over the country, but we could get to a central location in our state. It would be awesome to be able to go to an … [Read more...] about Satellite SBC meetings and remote voting: the best terrible idea around