NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program receipts for the month of December nearly matched the previous year’s December total, according to Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the SBC Executive Committee, keeping the fiscal year’s total nearly 14 percent above the previous year.
December 1996 Cooperative Program receipts reached $11,205,531 compared to the same month in 1995 of $11,292,845, a difference of $87,314 or .77 percent.
For the first quarter of the SBC fiscal year, October through December, the CP gifts totaled $37,454,705 compared to the previous fiscal year’s first quarter of $32,874,184, an increase of $4,480,520 or 13.59 percent.
The quarterly total of $37.4 million was above the required total for the period in the SBC Program Allocation Budget of $36.2 million, an increase of $1.2 million or 3.29 percent. The December total was $882,260 short of the required monthly budget figure of $12,087,791, or 7.3 percent below budget.
In designated giving, the December total of $2,748,662 compared to December 1995 of $3,510,249, or down $761,586 or 21.7 percent. For the quarter, designated gifts totaled $6,898,843 compared to the previous fiscal year’s first quarter of $8,343,108, a 17.31 percent difference or $1,444,264.
The SBC Cooperative Program total includes receipts from individuals, churches, state conventions and fellowships for
distribution according to the 1996-97 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget.
The Cooperative Program 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 foreign missions, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for home missions, world hunger and other special gifts.
State and regional conventions retain a percentage of Cooperative Program contributions 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.
