NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–More than 94 percent of all national Cooperative Program (CP) missions gifts go directly to sending and supporting missionaries and training ministry leaders, according to David Hankins, vice president for Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“As we move into the 21st century, it is important to recast the vision,” said Hankins. “The vision is not for a program, it is for people, all the people of the world.
“With the world population exceeding six billion, and growing, Southern Baptists’ can be assured that their efforts, their resources, and their impact are being maximized through their support of CP Missions.”
The remaining six percent goes to programs that support retired ministers and their widows, defending religious liberty, and providing efficient management of Convention ministries, Hankins said.
“Our goal simply put is to send more people so we can reach more people.”
The actual amount of 94.19 percent was released in a Cooperative Program advertisement in the September issue of SBC Life that promotes Partners in the Harvest. Partners in the Harvest is the theme of the 75th anniversary celebration of CP Missions.
The goals for the celebration include baptizing one million people this year, involving record numbers of people in volunteer missions endeavors and contributing $750 million to CP and other missions causes (Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong, etc.).
“Partners in the Harvest is cooperation at its best, ” says Hankins. “When you think about it, the Cooperative Program is really all about caring people, partnering together to touch the world.”
Churches are being asked to prayerfully consider increasing their gifts to CP Missions by at least one percent of their 2001 church budget in honor of the 75th anniversary of CP Missions.
CP Missions is Southern Baptists’ method of supporting missions and ministry efforts of state and regional conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention. Designated contributions include the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions, world hunger and other special gifts.
State and regional conventions retain a percentage of CP Missions gifts they receive from the churches to support work in their areas and send the remaining funds to the Executive Committee for national and international ministries. The percentage of distribution is at the discretion of each state or regional convention.
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