NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program receipts for November and for the fiscal year both showed increases over the previous year, according to Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the SBC Executive Committee.
For November 1998, the CP receipts totaled $11,942,959 compared to November 1997 of $11,869,780, an increase of $73,178 or .62 percent.
For the SBC fiscal year’s first two months — October and November — CP gifts totaled $27,469,016, an increase of $2,423,208 or 9.69 percent, over the previous year’s figure of $25,045,808.
Designated gifts for the month of November totaled $2,541,504, a decrease of $540,623 or 17.54 percent, from the previous year’s month of $3,082,127. For the fiscal year, designated gifts totaled $4,757,896 compared to the previous year of $5,046,606, a decrease of $288,709 or 5.72 percent.
For the SBC’s Program Allocation Budget, after two months, the required figure of $25,834,287 was surpassed by $1,634,729 or 6.33 percent. The November CP receipts were under the budget requirement for the month of $12,917,143 by $974,959 or 7.54 percent.
The SBC Cooperative Program total includes receipts from individuals, churches, state conventions and fellowships for distribution according to the 1998-99 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 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 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.
