Southern Baptists across the nation, including those in Alabama, are beginning to hear about the “1% Challenge.” It is an emphasis emanating from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee that attempts to enlist each of the 42 state Baptist convention executive directors in encouraging cooperating churches to increase giving to missions through the Cooperative Program (CP) by 1 percent.
Normally that sounds like a wonderful idea. Giving through the CP is the primary and preferred way Southern Baptists support all we do together in the state, nation and world.
SBC Executive Committee President Frank Page recently explained that 1 percent more in giving through the CP in 2010 would have meant an additional $100 million for Baptist causes. Page pointed out that cooperating churches gave 5.8 percent of undesignated offerings through the CP in 2010. Had they given 6.8 percent, the total would have been nearly $600 million.
But what happens when 1 percent more to missions through the CP results in fewer dollars than the year before? That is the position in which Alabama Baptists’ Executive Director Rick Lance now finds himself.
In 2010, Alabama Baptists increased their giving through the CP by a full 1 percent over 2009 totals. According to information provided by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), Alabama Baptists gave 7.4 percent of undesignated receipts through CP channels in 2010. That is 1.5 percent more than the SBC percentage and a full 1 percent more than the 2009 Alabama percentage. In essence, Alabama Baptists have already achieved the goal of the “1% Challenge.”
The bad part is that 2010 CP total gifts fell about $1.4 million below what Alabama Baptists gave through the CP in 2009. The actual CP receipts were $43,168,487.07 in 2009 and $41,727,510.30 in 2010. So even though the percentage went up, the dollars went down.
One might ask how fewer dollars in 2010 turned out to be a higher percentage. Because giving is based on undesignated receipts received by churches and Alabama Baptist undesignated giving dropped almost $118 million between 2009 and 2010. Percentagewise, CP giving did not drop as much as undesignated giving dropped, resulting in an increase in the CP percentage.
Again the figures. In 2009, cooperating churches in Alabama reported receiving $680,697,725 in undesignated receipts. In 2010, that figure was $562,650,164. That is a 17.4 percent drop in one year. However, total gifts received by Alabama Baptist churches barely declined at all, according to information reported on Annual Church Profiles. Total receipts fell from $757 million in 2009 to $751.9 million in 2010, a decline of just 0.7 percent.
If total gifts to Alabama Baptist churches remained almost constant and undesignated giving fell by 17.4 percent, then one would expect designated giving to traditional missions causes to have increased substantially, especially giving to special missions offerings. Unfortunately that did not happen.
According to SBOM information, special offerings also dropped between 2009 and 2010. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions fell from $11.3 million to $10.9 million. The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions fell from $5.7 million to $5.4 million. In all, SBOM officials distributed about $1.3 million less in CP and designated offerings in 2010 than in 2009.
For reasons for which there are no complete explanations, Alabama Baptists experienced a major shift in their giving patterns in 2010. Designated giving increased by almost 150 percent, or $113 million (from $76,309,133 in 2009 to $189,206,451 in 2010). But that increase was not reflected in gifts to special missions offerings or in direct gifts to missions agencies — either state or national.
It appears that much of the increase in designated giving was directed toward local projects. Those could have been paying expenses for church members to participate on a church-sponsored missions trip, fixing a leaky roof or helping a hungry family in the community.
SBOM officials say church finances usually lag from 18 months to two years behind the nation’s economy. Evidently when the full brunt of the nation’s sick economy hit in 2010, the decision of many Alabama Baptists was to spend their money on needed ministries and missions opportunities close at hand. It is easy to understand how local concerns become primary concerns.
Unfortunately the decision of some Alabama Baptists appeared to be to stop giving altogether.
Average undesignated giving per church dropped from $209,059.50 in 2009 to $174,303.02 in 2010. That is a drop of 17 percent in one year.
Add to that the statistic provided by SBOM officials that average giving by Alabama Baptists has dropped to 2.2 percent of income, and the seriousness of the problem facing Baptists in the church, the state convention and the national convention becomes obvious.
Baptists need to grow the total amount of funds available to support Baptist work. That means Baptists badly need an emphasis on stewardship education. As a denomination, we need to learn again and preach again what the Bible says about giving money as well as about giving other resources.
The “1% Challenge” is a good thing. It will call attention to the need for churches to give to missions beyond themselves through the CP. The challenge will help churches revisit the topic of how much the church gives through the CP. We commend that effort and will support it.
But a larger percentage of a shrinking total is not the answer. Alabama Baptists giving a higher percentage of undesignated receipts to the CP but fewer dollars is not a healthy model. Alabama Baptists and all Southern Baptists need to learn again the biblical concepts of giving through tithes and offerings.
Perhaps that can be the next emphasis promoted by the SBC.
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