NASHVILLE — December’s Cooperative Program (CP) allocation receipts for Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) work totaled $15,841,476.75. This is the first month in the new fiscal year that contributions have exceeded the monthly goal of $15,500,000, a 2.16 percent increase.
Year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee are 7.01 percent below the same time frame last year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Page. But December receipts were 1.44 percent more than the $15,612,660.99 received in December 2010.
As of Dec. 31, 2011, gifts received by the Executive Committee for distribution through the CP Allocation Budget totaled $44,269,203.77, or $3,334,711.13 behind the $47,603,914.90 received at the end of December 2010. For the SBC CP Allocation Budget, the year-to-date total of $44,269,203.77 is 95.20 percent of the $46,500,000 budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America.
Designated giving of $11,700,343.07 for the same year-to-date period is 3.04 percent, or $367,237.99, below gifts of $12,067,581.06 received at this point last year. This total includes only those gifts received and distributed by the Executive Committee and does not reflect designated gifts contributed directly to SBC entities.
“It is a great blessing to witness the faithfulness of God’s people to give to God’s work even in difficult times,” Page said. Noting that consumer confidence continues to lag, he said, “The promise of Philippians 4:19 remains true — our God ‘will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.’” CP allocation budget receipts received by the Executive Committee are reported monthly to the executives of the entities of the convention, to the state offices, to the denominational papers and are posted online at www.cpmissions.net/CPReports.
The end-of-month total represents money received by the Executive Committee by the close of the last business day of each month. Month-to-month swings reflect a number of factors, including the number of Sundays in a given month, the day of the month churches forward their CP contributions to their state conventions and the timing of when state conventions forward the national portion of their CP contributions to the Executive Committee.
During the last fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2010 — Sept. 30, 2011), CP receipts for the year were up 0.06 percent — the first increase since 2007. Combined CP and designated giving for the year were up 0.17 percent.
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