CP giving down but better than tax collections

NASHVILLE — The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) finished its Oct. 1–Sept. 30 fiscal year 2.87 percent below budget, while Cooperative Program (CP) receipts for the year were down 2.23 percent compared to last year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman.

“All entities of the [SBC] have much to be thankful for because of the faithfulness of Southern Baptists during the economic downturn our country is experiencing,” Chapman said. “While the federal government has seen tax collections drop about 20 percent, voluntary giving by our people has sustained the national programs supported by the Cooperative Program within 3 percent of budget. Even though investment income has plummeted and special offerings have fallen substantially short, SBC entities have been able to depend on the strength and stability of Cooperative Program support.

“Some might tend to focus on our not meeting the same level of giving as last year. However, I see the committed efforts of so many faithful members of our churches to provide for Cooperative Program budget needs this year as a tribute to the sacrificial giving by individual Southern Baptists and to the faithful support by local congregations, and importantly, as a glimpse of God’s blessings on the cooperative fellowship we call the Southern Baptist Convention.”

A total of $199,822,090.18 in CP gifts was received by the SBC during the fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2008, through Sept. 30, 2009 — down by $4,563,502.45, or 2.23 percent, from the previous fiscal year’s $204,385,592.63. For the month of September, CP receipts totaled $14,752,893.52, $174,295.61, or 1.17 percent, below the $14,927,189.13 received last September.

For the SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget, the year-end total of $199,822,090.18 was $5,894,743.82, or 2.87 percent, below the $205,716,834.00 budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America.