Lately, we have been looking into the best way to use our missions money as a local congregation. The more I learn, the less satisfied I become with the Cooperative Program as a “missions” funding tool.
Attention LifeWay Research, I’m moving to the minority on this one.
Here is the way the math works for our church. We give about $24,000 through the Cooperative Program. The Indiana Baptist Split is (64.5%) 15,480, and the SBC portion is (35.5%) 8,520. Once the money gets to Nashville, the CP allocations gives half (4,260) to the IMB and the rest to other causes (NAMB, Seminaries, etc.). The bottom line is that only 17% of our CP offering ever makes it to the International Mission Board.
This may be fine if the church intends to send so much to non-foreign missions causes. But the common misconception is that CP = missions. As I’ve said before, no amount of market research will fix it. People need to know the truth about where 83% of their money does not go.
What Do You Think?
Is this the most effective way to accomplish the Great Commission? Is this something that an average giver in your church understands?
