NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–While many Southern Baptists used the month of July to take vacations, their faithfulness to Cooperative Program giving was hard at work, said Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee.
Total July receipts for the Cooperative Program and designated gifts were $23,268,698.58, or 11.02 percent higher than July 1999’s total of $20,958,964.48.
The extra CP dollars will enable the International Mission Board, North American Mission Board and the SBC’s six seminaries to expand their efforts to share Jesus Christ with the world.
“Partners in the Harvest could not come at a better time,” said Jerry Rankin, president of the IMB. “And how grateful we are that it’s because of these unprecedented record-setting years of Cooperative Program receipts that we have been able to continue to send out those whom God is calling.
“But unless we meet the goals of Partners in the Harvest, we very seriously are facing the consequences of having to restrict the flow of missionaries,” he warned.
Rankin said one key focus area is ministry to the Quichuas and the Kurds. “As we do this, we are also developing and implementing strategies to reach all of these peoples and establish an indigenous church planting movement among all of them,” he added.
The average cost of entering a new people group is between $50,000 and $75,000, he said.
For July 2000, SBC CP gifts totaled $14,568,580.61, or $17,889.30 above July 1999’s total of $14,550,691.31.
For the year to date, CP giving is 5.94 percent above the same period in the last Oct. 1-Sept. 30 fiscal year. At the end of July, a total of $148,696,892.03 had been received, compared to last year’s mark of $140,363,173.74.
For the SBC CP Allocation Budget, the year-to-date receipts totaled $148,696,892.03, or $15,710,439.53 above the budgeted $132,986,452.50.
In designated gifts for July, $8,700,117.97 was received, compared to July 1999’s total of $6,408,273.17, an increase of 35.76 percent or $2,291,844.80. Designated gift totals for the year were reported at $156,388,780.65 compared to the same period a year ago of $145,327,832.75, an increase of 7.61 percent or $11,060,947.90.
The SBC CP total includes receipts from individuals, churches, state conventions and fellowships for distribution according to the 1999-2000 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget.
CP 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, and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions, world hunger and other special gifts.
State and regional conventions retain a percentage of CP 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.
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