1% Challenge: Economy doesn’t deter church from giving
BRIDGEPORT, Ill. (BP) -- Pastor Wes Hahn didn't have to twist any arms when he proposed that Shiloh Baptist Church increase its Cooperative Program giving by 1 percentage point in 2012. During his four-year tenure at Shiloh in Bridgeport, Ill., Hahn has used every opportunity to promote CP, Southern Baptists' main method of cooperative giving. In Illinois, 43.25 percent of CP funds go to national and global Southern Baptist missions, while the remaining 56.75 percent helps support Illinois missions. Shiloh has a long history of Cooperative Program support, Hahn said, so when he suggested the church raise its giving from 14.5 to 15.5 percent of their undesignated offerings, the finance team and the rest of the congregation were ready to accept the 1% Challenge, a national initiative by the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee.
"The beauty of the Cooperative Program" is that Southern Baptists' 45,000-plus churches are "all working to fulfill the Great Commission," Hahn said. "... For every dollar we give to the CP, it's literally going around the world." Shiloh and other churches that have tackled the 1% Challenge are doing their part to combat a nationwide slide in Cooperative Program giving. Last year, national CP giving was 3.98 percent below the amount allocated to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America, despite a slight increase over the previous year. In Illinois, year-end Cooperative Program giving was 9 percent below budgeted giving and 2.6 percent lower than the previous year. "It's been a couple of tough years in a row for Cooperative Program missions, but here in Illinois, we're making the necessary adjustments and living within our means," said Nate Adams, executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. "We're all eager for the economy to improve and for Illinois Baptist families and churches to get past these current financial hardships. "The fact that these families and churches continue to give so faithfully to cooperative missions even during these challenging times, is a cause for great encouragement," Adams said. Shiloh is one example of a church giving despite a downward economy. The church's undesignated giving in 2011 was 6 to 7 percent lower than the previous year, Hahn said, but missions giving actually increased, including a record high contribution to the Illinois Mission Offering. "Even though there might be a little downturn in the economy, so the tithes and offerings are down, when it got to specific giving, they said, 'Well, that's the need; that's what we're going to do.'" Hahn recounted. Shiloh's missions giving mindset and growing missions sending strategy is based on knowing the important role the church plays in Kingdom ministries, Hahn said, noting that Jesus' challenge in Acts 1:8 to be witnesses all over the world isn't possible without cooperation.Chicago pastor, 74, earns seminary doctoral degree
CHICAGO (BP) -- When Don Sharp received his doctoral degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 20 members of the congregation he leads attended the December commencement, applauding their 74-year-old pastor for his of academic achievement. [QUOTE@left@180="[The doctoral project] really reinforced the notion that the church has to address the issue of family."
-- Graduate and pastor
Don Sharp]Sharp, pastor of Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chicago, graduated with a doctor of educational ministry degree, calling it "the fulfillment of a lifelong dream." "Education has always been something that has been appealing to me," said Sharp, who, as the youngest of five children, was the first to finish elementary school. He later received degrees from DePaul University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and started taking master's-level seminary courses at Southern's extension campus in Chicago 14 years ago. Sharp, who has twice served as president of the IBSA board of directors, was Faith Tabernacle's organizing pastor 47 years ago and has led the church ever since. Pursuing further education was "something I felt like, if nothing else, for the sake of the family, I needed to do," Sharp said. It also has had an impact on his congregation. "That has been the response I get from some of the folks: 'You really inspire me, I need to get back in school,' particularly from the young people in our congregation," Sharp said. "It becomes significant for us ... when [there is] such a high dropout rate among African American young people, especially boys." Sharp began pursuing his doctoral degree wholeheartedly five years ago, completing his coursework and beginning work on his doctoral project. His studies were sidelined by triple bypass surgery last year, but he credits his professors with graciously working with him so he could receive his degree during Southern's winter commencement in December in Louisville, Ky. Sharp's final project was titled "A Strategy to Strengthen African American Families at the Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois." For the research component of his project, he led a 12-week seminar exploring the concept of the African American family through history, including how the church has traditionally related to those families. His findings, based on pre- and post-seminar surveys, already are impacting how he leads his church. "As I began to work on my project and material for it, it really reinforced the notion that the church has to address the issue of family," Sharp said. "Now, of course, when we talk about family today, it's not the Cleaver family. You've got single-parent families, either divorced or never-married heads of household, multi-generational families where you have two or three generations living in the same household." His studies helped him identify issues facing his church as it relates to families, such as "How do we say to the single mom, 'There's a place here for you, and you also have worth, you also have value,'" Sharp said. "How can we as a church love you where you are, and help you in your struggle?"
Ill. Baptists take 1% CP challenge
O’FALLON, Ill. (BP) — “Churches Cooperating” was the theme of the Illinois Baptist State Association’s 105th annual meeting, Nov. 2-3 at First Baptist Church in O’Fallon, Ill. Throughout the two-day meeting, IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams interviewed seven pastors about their commitments to the Cooperative Program. During the Wednesday evening worship celebration, churches were challenged […]
