Editor’s note: Randy C. Davis is executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
I love a good Cooperative Program (CP) story because Cooperative Program stories are ultimately about people. That’s one reason I love pastor James Suggs. He embodies everything that is great about CP.
Pastor James has faithfully manned pulpits in churches across Cocke County, Tenn., for 57 years, and is still going strong, leading Cave Hill Baptist Church in Newport for 36 years.
I love him because of his commitment to the Lord, to people, to the local church and to missions. He is a godly man with a passion to see people come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board produced a CP video with Suggs a few years ago, and I’ll never forget what he said.
“I’ve lived in Cocke County all my life,” he said. “When I was about 21 years old, I said I’d like to see at least a million souls saved. There ain’t but 30,000 people in Cocke County so I figured I was going to have to go a lot farther than here. I reckon through the Cooperative Program I’ve seen at least a million people saved.”
Pastor James, in nearly six decades of faithfully leading your churches to support missions through CP, I’m confident you’ve seen way beyond a million people come to know Jesus.
During this centennial year of the Cooperative Program, it seems right and good to be reminded by people like Suggs of CP’s importance.
Our denomination sometimes seems divided, but the Cooperative Program uniquely stands at the center of the Southern Baptist Convention’s mission endeavors as a unifying force among churches committed to spreading the gospel at home to around the globe. It’s not just a funding mechanism. CP fosters a dynamic partnership empowering local churches to join forces in fulfilling the Great Commission.
However, it wasn’t always that way. Prior to 1925, churches were bombarded by mission institutions, compassion ministries, educational entities and more all seeking funding. It was an aggressively competitive practice that left Southern Baptist entities poorly funded and churches ill-tempered.
Seeking to find a method of financially supporting missions and ministry endeavors in a unified and cohesive manner, the SBC formed the Future Program Committee leading up to the 1925 SBC Annual Meeting. M. E. Dodd, a native of Gibson County (Tenn.), chaired this committee made up of a Who’s Who of great Southern Baptist leaders, including William Lunsford, Tennessee pastor, originator and first president of what is now GuideStone Financial Resources; L. R. Scarborough, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; E. Y. Mullins, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Kathleen Mallory, executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union.
This plan of proportional, systematic and faithful giving proved to be one of the most brilliant initiatives Southern Baptists have accomplished together. Every church, no matter the size or financial resources typically would give at least 10 percent of undesignated receipts through CP to fund missions and ministries in their states and beyond.
As a pastor, I found it comforting to know that we financially supported opportunities like evangelism efforts, missionary families, orphan care, Christian education, disaster relief and so much more. The Cooperative Program teaches us the importance of biblical stewardship and working together for Kingdom goals.
Milestone anniversaries are great opportunities to look back and survey the road we’ve traveled.
We should remember the goodness of God and how He has blessed and multiplied the financial generosity of Southern Baptists. But what does the future hold? I believe Southern Baptists are at a critical moment in our history. Inflation during this past decade has eroded the impact of our mission dollars.
A sobering question is this: Does our Great Commission advance stall here, at this moment in time, due to our lack of financial commitment, or do we recommit ourselves to a determined future of sacrificial giving through CP to do God’s work?
So, like Dodd, Scarborough, Mallory and other leaders did 100 years ago, I will “make the ask.” Would your church seriously consider increasing its financial support for Great Commission work through the Cooperative Program?
I believe more International Mission Board missionaries are worth it. Supporting Christian education is worth it. Impacting the foster care crisis in Tennessee is worth it. Cultivating pastors to fill a dry ministerial pipeline is worth it. Reaching the 4 million-plus spiritually lost people in Tennessee is worth it.
God sees and blesses generosity. Increasing CP giving is worth it.
Do you have a God-sized dream like pastor James that is so big it would take the Cooperative Program to accomplish it? If so, I’d love to hear it. I love a good CP story.
It is a joy to be with you on this journey.
This article originally appeared in the Baptist and Reflector.
Related posts:
‘Jersey’ impacts Ohio & the world 
COOPERATIVE PROGRAM: Together in God’s mission 
COOPERATIVE PROGRAM: Friends sharing life-giving faith 
COOPERATIVE PROGRAM: A matter of love 
Lottie Moon Offering: celebration & challenge 
FIRST-PERSON: The Cooperative Program: essential, irreplaceable 
1% Challenge Cooperative Program 
Flat Rock clings to the Cooperative Program
