Love for CP unites churches big and small

At first glance Carlowville Baptist Church in Minter and Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, appear to have little in common. In Selma Association, rural Carlowville Baptist sits quietly led by 84-year-old, once-retired Taylor Bowers. The little church founded in 1837 is home to 16 resident members. Shades Mountain Baptist Church, on the other hand, sprawls over a mountainside south of Birmingham and is church home to more than 2,500 families. Danny Wood serves as pastor.
   
But the two churches do have something in common beyond being Southern Baptist. Both congregations wholeheartedly support the Cooperative Program (CP) and led Alabama in giving for the second year in a row.
   
During the morning session of the state convention Nov. 19, John MacLaren, director of the office of Cooperative Program/stewardship development, recognized Shades Mountain as the top-dollar-giving church in the state. Wood accepted the plaque for his congregation that gave $470,000 to the Cooperative Program in 2001.
   
Wood told The Alabama Baptist, “I love supporting the Cooperative Program, because it touches so many facets of missions life, from the seminary student to overseas missionaries. I know every dollar we give to the CP is another dollar going toward sharing Christ around the world.”
   
Bowers accepted the plaque for top church in total per-resident member giving. In 2001 the resident members of Carlowville Baptist averaged giving $314.05 each. Carlowville’s generosity is especially impressive considering many of those resident members are senior adults living on fixed incomes.
  
Bowers cites prayer as the inspiration for Carlowville’s giving: “We prayed and asked the Lord to lead us as to what we could do. We figured we could pray and we could give.” Carlowville designates 30 percent of its approximately $17,000 annual budget to missions, 11 percent specifically to the Cooperative Program. They also divide any surplus at the end of the year and give a third of that to missions.
   
MacLaren brought good news to the convention regarding Alabama’s giving to the Cooperative Program. In a time when most charitable giving took a great hit due to the economic downturn following 9/11, Cooperative Program giving in Alabama continued to grow. “Every year since 1993, we have surpassed our budget,” he announced. Alabama CP giving in 2001 totaled $38,675,161, more than 1 percent over budget. “We are also well on target for 2002,” added MacLaren.
   
Nationally, Alabama continues to be a leader of the SBC in CP giving. Only three other states send a greater percentage of their missions gifts to the CP.