Baptist Press issued some figures about the pace of Cooperative Program giving over the last few months. We have seen hints that it was coming and today we get confirmation. The news wasn’t good and we’re 5% behind the 2008 pace. But the real headline was buried in the article.
For the (2008-2009) SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget, the year-to-date total of $47,251,306.70 is 91.88 percent of the $51,429,208.50 budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America.
Remember, the SBC operates on an Oct. 1-Sept. 30 fiscal year. So, these figures are describing the first quarter of our fiscal year which includes October – December 2008. That means a 4 million dollar budget shortage after only one quarter.
How will our entities weather this 8% drop in funding? What about the state conventions, who depend on the CP for their operating budgets?
