Southern Baptist churches boosted their Cooperative Program (CP) giving by more than $5 million for international and national missions and ministries during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to a news release from Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman.
A total of $205,716,834.00 was received by the SBC during the fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2007 — up by $5,115,297.71 from the previous fiscal year’s $200,601,536.29 when Southern Baptists topped the $200 million mark for the first time.
Counting an additional $204,996,500.84 in designated gifts, the fiscal year marked the first time that Southern Baptists surpassed the $400 million mark in overall giving to SBC national causes for spreading the gospel worldwide.
For the month of September, receipts of $17,912,691.76 were $434,775.62 ahead of the $17,477,916.14 received in September 2006.
Designated year-end giving of $204,996,500.84 was $13,567,882.79 above gifts of $191,428,618.05 for the previous fiscal year.
The $4,962,666.15 in designated gifts received last month was $1,086,262.15 above the $3,876,404.00 received in September 2006.
Money for missions
For the SBC CP Allocation Budget, the year-end total of $205,716,834.00 was $9,768,411.45 above the $195,948,422.55 budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America.
The CP is Southern Baptists’ method of supporting missions and ministry efforts of state conventions and the SBC.
It is separate from the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Fund of which 100 percent of monies go to aid the needy in the general public. The CP total includes receipts from individuals, churches, state conventions and fellowships for distribution according to the 2005–2006 CP Allocation Budget.
Designated contributions include the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions, Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund and other special gifts.
State and regional conventions retain a portion of church contributions to the SBC CP to support work in their respective areas and forward a percentage to Southern Baptist national and international causes.
The percentage of distribution is at the discretion of each state or regional convention. The Alabama Baptist State Convention gives 42.3 percent to the SBC. (BP)
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