FORT WAYNE, Ind. (BP) – The Cooperative Program helped St. Joe Community Church get its footing 23 years ago. It’s one reason Pastor Greg Byman and the congregation pay it forward by giving through CP, but certainly not the only one.
“The Cooperative Program enabled us to have enough resources in the early days for me to be here full-time,” Byman said. “Once that support went away, we continued giving to CP, knowing that we wanted to pay those benefits along to other churches.”
St. Joe Community Church consistently marks 7 percent of its budget for CP.
“Every year, we make sure everyone knows we’re putting that in our budget,” he said. “We explain at the offering and in membership classes that we give at least a tithe away. We believe that a healthy, Bible-believing Christian is going to grow spiritually when they are good stewards of God’s money.
“How do we fulfill the Great Commission unless we’re partnering with somebody else?”
St. Joe was launched through the North American Mission Board in 2002 with Waynedale Baptist Church in Fort Wayne as the sponsoring church. Early on, the church gave 5 percent through CP before increasing that amount to 7. Two percent goes a Send Relief affiliate ministry in Huntingdon, Ind. The rest goes to local ministries and Northeastern Indiana Baptist Association.
The Cooperative Program helped pay for Byman’s education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the doctorate he’s finishing up at Southeastern Seminary. Another church member attended classes at Southern Seminary. Byman’s daughter attends online classes for Southern as well from her residence in Tampa, Fla.
Missions is central for St. Joe Community Church. In addition to trips throughout the year, one member was commissioned at the recent SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas to serve in Eastern Europe.
Friends who are members of other denominations have taken note of how CP leads to greater efficiency in missions, Bynam said.
“They’re incredibly impressed by that fact that we’re all pouring into one great, big bucket so that missionaries don’t have to worry about doing that themselves,” he said. “It’s centralized, and tangible.”
There was another time when Southern Baptists missions stepped up and, technically, didn’t have to. At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Byman’s son and his son’s then-girlfriend (now wife) were on a mission trip through another organization in Uganda. As infection numbers went up, the country shut down its borders with the agency unable to remove workers.
Byman knew a contact through the International Mission Board and urged his son to reach out. The IMB “figured out a way to get them out of there,” Byman said. The couple are currently interviewing with the IMB to become missionaries through the Southern Baptist entity.
CP has also blessed his family through its support of collegiate ministries and church plants near where his children live.
“All four of my kids have benefitted,” he said. “My oldest son went to Harvard and ended up within walking distance of a replant in Cambridge. I mean, I didn’t think he would have a chance at being near an evangelical church. My second son went to Ball State and was able to find another Southern Baptist church plant within walking distance of his dorm.
“My third child is married and lives in Tampa. She’s in a new church that meets in a downtown hotel. My youngest, Janae, is at Purdue University and she’s in a Salt Network church. They were just all looking for a good church and, in some places, you just don’t know what you’re going to find.”
Those experiences compel him to support the Cooperative Program.
“CP has blessed my family personally,” said Byman. “How can I not appreciate it?”
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