Willy Rice is our new SBC president and is a likable fellow. That goes a long way in my book although I don’t know if I would have voted for him or not. He has been running for the office (and function) of SBC president for quite a while and has said a lot of things. I don’t think anyone argues about how he has been designated as “a reformer” in the secular press and inside the SBC.
Will Willy reform the Cooperative Program?
Highly doubtful.
His quote above is from Ben Cole’s podcast where Willy is asked nicely but pointedly about his church giving record. Credit due BC for pursuing this line of questioning. Credit due to Willy for being generally forthright in answering.
Willy states plainly that the CP’s future is “in question.” He’s right and for context this was in a discussion about his church giving record. The record shows that CP percentage has been cut significantly over the past few years although the percentage is still healthy for a church of its size.
Willy explained that his church decided to cut CP and increase the designated offerings, Lottie and Annie (and perhaps others). No congregation has to explain their giving decisions to anyone, not to any denominational employee, not to any relic blogger of an earlier day, not to a podcaster. The local church might not be king in the SBC in the aggregate but it doggone sure is king of their own budget and decisions.
My giving philosophy as a pastor was to move funds from CP to the designated offerings. I decided that 40 years ago during the real reform movement.
The CP has been declining for decades, for generations. That is the longest trend in Southern Baptist life. We have only been a declining denomination for about 20 years. Our Grand Giving Scheme at least doubles that timeframe in decline.
I haven’t seen a transcription of that interview but I’m fairly certain that Willy also said that both the IMB and NAMB now spend considerable efforts raising money outside of traditional channels. They are both supposedly prohibited from appealing directly to churches outside of their seasonal offerings.
I regularly get IMB appeals on social media, usually for a few hundreds of dollars for this or that specific project.
Our venerable CP has no chance of competing in the modern world. It is still substantial but will continue to decline in importance. The percentage of budget revenue that specific entities receive from come from the CP is declining. Entity heads and trustees may tout the CP as our grand mission funding scheme but I don’t see corresponding despair that it is not, nor do I see optimism that anything will reverse the trend.
So, what would I suggest Willy do to reform the SBC and CP to reverse longstanding trends? Here you go Willy:
- Keep peace with state conventions but be plain that the states, which still suck up most of a CP dollar, aren’t the key to global or North American missions. ‘God bless you guys in the southern states but our church mission dollars are better spent outside of the South.’ Last time I checked, Southern states receive 90% of CP dollars and keep most of it.
- The ERLC is a problem, has been for a long time. Work to transition that entity, which couldn’t exist without CP dollars, to self-support. It is over budgeted as it is. Cut their percentage but, better, excise the problem altogether by getting it out of the CP.
- While everyone, including you, genuflects towards the altar of anti-women church staff, I liked your idea of a task force on women. The ludicrously named “Truth and Unity” amendment solves nothing. Wait until some committee in Nashville starts making decisions in private about excluding churches with female preschool pastors or churches where a woman speaks to any church assembled group. If next year’s convention passes it, it means little or nothing. If it fails to pass, here we go again. You may have a better idea. It’s a drain on energy better spent elsewhere and deleterious to the CP.
- There may be marginal CP benefit from moving entity trustees towards openness and transparency and towards 990-like reporting. I’m not optimistic but follow through on your support of something along these lines. It can’t hurt. Secrecy is poison. SBC entities all keep a stockpile of poison.
Other that all that, all the best for the coming year. Surprise me.
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I must add as an aside. People are comparing your preaching to Adrian Rogers’ preaching. Don’t be taken in by this. There are no latter day Adrians. Not you. Not Mike Stone whose preaching is similarly excellent. No one that is a living breathing Southern Baptist. But I’d just as soon hear your or Mike and probably some others than any of the modern bros who have cool shoes (sometimes stockless) and an affected modern GQ look. Nah. Preach on.
