Cooperative Program (CP) dollars above the base budget may temporarily go to hurricane relief efforts. This could potentially add up to $7 million.
Morris H. Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Executive Committee, announced this recommendation Sept. 12.
The SBC’s 43,000 churches met the CP Allocation Budget for 2004–2005 Sept. 12, providing the needed base of funding for the International Mission Board (IMB), North American Mission Board (NAMB), the six SBC seminaries, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and other SBC operations.
Chapman said he will recommend that all CP gifts between Sept. 12 and the end of the SBC’s fiscal year, Sept. 30, go directly to disaster relief — a recommendation that was to be addressed during the Executive Committee’s Sept. 19–20 meeting in Nashville.
The receipts will be put to work in three ways: 50 percent for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, which suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding in the city; 25 percent for NAMB, which coordinates SBC disaster relief efforts nationwide; and 25 percent for relief ministry by the state Baptist conventions in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, distributed proportionally to their needs.
In addition, Chapman said he will recommend that the same formula be followed with beyond-the-budget receipts for the CP Allocation Budget during the first quarter of the new fiscal year.
“Katrina is the most devastating natural catastrophe ever to hit the United States,” Chapman said. “To the degree of its chaos, destruction and displacement, it may not happen again in our lifetimes. Because of the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists have been able to respond swiftly and generously.”
The initiative, he noted, was discussed in a conference call with the presidents of the SBC’s 11 entities and the SBC auxiliary Woman’s Missionary Union. These leaders enthusiastically embraced the initiative, which will be no small sacrifice for those entities supported by the CP.
The IMB stands to lose the most — potentially $3.5 million — with this change.
IMB ready for adjustment
David Steverson, IMB’s vice president for finance, said, “Whenever Southern Baptists think of the Cooperative Program, the first thing that comes to mind is usually missions.
“The International Mission Board is allocated 50 percent of CP funds that are received at the national level,” Steverson said.
“While the decision will impact our anticipated income, as it will for the other entities, we are confident God will be faithful to provide for our budget needs through the loyal and faithful giving of Southern Baptists,” he said. “The very nature of the program is to cooperate one with another — from the local church to the state convention to the national entities. In a time of unprecedented need, we are proud to be a part of the CP missions team.
“In times of great stress, Southern Baptists respond,” Steverson said. “Now when our friends on the Gulf Coast are trying to rebuild, we are pleased to have a part in those efforts.”
Chapman said, “Because Southern Baptists have given faithfully through the Cooperative Program since 1925, and especially this year, we are able to take [this] extraordinary step.
“Without the Cooperative Program, we would not have all the organizations in place to respond immediately and effectively to a crisis while continuing our normal operations in ministry, missions and theological education,” he continued. “Without the faithfulness of Southern Baptists in giving through the Cooperative Program, the SBC, including its national entities, would not be in position to allocate emergency funds to disaster relief.”
And, taking a larger view of the Cooperative Program, Chapman said, “Without the strength of the Cooperative Program, SBC entities would not have the assurance their ministries would continue from year to year, our missionaries would have no assurance they could remain on the mission fields and our seminary students would receive no tuition scholarships to ease their financial burden of preparing to follow God’s will throughout their lives.”
In related news, LifeWay Christian Resources trustees authorized the use of $6 million in reserve funds to assist Southern Baptist hurricane recovery efforts.
The funding will begin immediately and continue throughout LifeWay’s 2006 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2005, through Sept. 30, 2006. (BP, TAB contributed)
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