Southern Baptist pastors have high opinions of the convention’s Cooperative Program (CP), according to a study conducted by LifeWay Research.
The survey of 1,066 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) pastors found 81 percent agree the CP fuels an aggressive global enterprise of reaching the unreached people groups around the world. Similarly, 80 percent say the CP provides partnership opportunities for local, state and national missions.
The study also indicates that pastors’ support for the CP does have its limits. One in five pastors (19 percent) say the strategies of the SBC entities that receive CP dollars are not moving in the appropriate direction and that SBC entities are not using their contributions effectively. However, the majority (55 percent) agrees the SBC entities supported by the CP are moving in an appropriate direction. And 52 percent say the entities are using their contributions effectively. Seventy-three percent of pastors say the CP supports the ministries and missions valued by their churches.
“As pastors question every dollar they spend, it is not surprising that some are wanting evidence they are being good stewards with their mission dollars,” said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. This study shows pastors believe the efforts supported by the CP matter. However, “some do not overlook the need for further ministry improvement in the efforts of the SBC entities supported by the Cooperative Program.”
Southern Baptist pastors also indicated how closely they agree with the current allocation of national CP funds. The median responses for the entities — International Mission Board (IMB), North American Mission Board (NAMB), six SBC seminaries, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and SBC operating budget — were all within 0.3 percent of the current allocations, which pastors were shown as they answered.
About one in five pastors entered amounts exactly matching current percentage allocations. A majority listed higher percentages for NAMB and at least half listed lower percentages for IMB, SBC seminaries and SBC operating budget.
Nearly 70 percent of SBC pastors agreed with the statement, “The SBC allocation budget places a high priority on penetrating lostness both locally and worldwide.”
Pastors also were asked to indicate the priority their church places on 12 missions and ministry efforts funded by the CP. The majority of pastors indicate “sending and supporting overseas missionaries to reach unreached people groups around the world” is the highest priority. Following is the percentage of SBC pastors who rated each CP-funded mission and ministry as essential or high priority:
- Sending and supporting overseas missionaries — 68 percent
- Engaging in local ministry projects for evangelism — 65 percent
- Developing and implementing an evangelism strategy for penetrating lostness in North America — 59 percent
- Improving the vitality and health of existing churches — 59 percent
- Educating and training future pastors, missionaries, church planters and other denominational leaders —57 percent
- Reaching ethnically and culturally diverse people — 51 percent
- Promoting an ongoing program of missions education for all ages — 48 percent
- Engaging in direct international missions — 45 percent
- Conducting an ongoing program of leadership development — 45 percent
- Intentional church planting in cities and towns across North America — 44 percent
- Intentional church planting in large urban centers — 43 percent
- Providing a Christian perspective and response about social, ethical and public policy issues — 37 percent
“International missions is clearly a rallying point for the Cooperative Program, yet pastors also place a high priority on evangelism efforts in North America,” McConnell said.
In regard to sending and supporting overseas missionaries, larger churches, with average attendance of 100–249 (42 percent) and 250-plus (47 percent), are more likely to say it is a high priority compared to smaller churches, 0–49 (33 percent) and 50–99 (29 percent).
When asked about engaging in direct international missions projects, differences mainly emerged according to church size. Churches with an average attendance of 0–49 (16 percent) are the most likely to select “not a priority.” Churches with 250-plus attendees (53 percent) are the most likely to say it is a “high priority” while those with 0–49 attendees (17 percent) are the least likely to say so.
The final question on the survey referred to the “1% CP Challenge,” an effort by the SBC Executive Committee to encourage all Southern Baptist churches to raise their CP contributions by 1 percentage point of their church’s undesignated contributions. Nearly 40 percent of pastors had not heard of the 1% CP Challenge. Another 42 percent said they have not accepted the challenge.
Only 7 percent of pastors said their church had accepted the 1% CP Challenge with another 8 percent planning to do so in the next budget year.
Methodology: The survey of 1,066 SBC pastors was conducted April 1–May 11, 2012. Responses were weighted to reflect the geographic distribution and worship attendance of the churches. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.0 percent. Margins of error are higher in subgroups.
(BP)
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