NASHVILLE – Southern Baptist churches gave more than $19 million through the National Cooperative Program Budget in January propelling the fiscal year total above budget for the first time this budget year. 

“The Cooperative Program gifts received in the month of January signal a strong start to the 2023 calendar year,” SBC Executive Committee interim president Willie McLaurin said in a statement. “I am encouraged by how local churches continue to trust God in their generosity. This strong start to the year enables us to build unity and stability in an unstable and lost world.”

January National Cooperative Program giving:

• Monthly budgeted amount: $16,022,500.00
• January 2022 giving: $19,117,200.76 
• Above/under budget: $3,094,700.76 (19.31 percent) above budget

Total National Cooperative Program giving:

• Year-to-date budgeted amount: $64,090,000.00
• Year-to-date giving: $64,832,200.35
• Above/under budget: $742,200.35 (1.16 percent) above budget

Designated giving:

• January giving: $ 25,912,253.04
• Year-to-date giving: $38,106,075.10
• Previous year total: $40,422,268.85
• Above/under previous year: $2,316,193.75 (5.73 percent) under previous year

The convention-adopted budget for 2022-2023 is $192,270,000 and includes an initial $200,000 special priority allocation for the SBC Vision 2025 initiative. Cooperative Program funds are then disbursed as follows: 50.41 percent to international missions through the International Mission Board, 22.79 percent to North American missions through the North American Mission Board, 22.16 percent to theological education through the six SBC seminaries and the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, 2.99 percent to the SBC operating budget and 1.65 percent to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. If national CP gifts exceed the budget projection at the end of the fiscal year, the balance of the overage is distributed according to the percentages approved for budgetary distribution. The SBC Executive Committee distributes all CP and designated gifts it receives on a weekly basis to the SBC ministry entities.

CP allocation budget gifts received by the Executive Committee are reported monthly to the executives of the entities of the convention, to the state convention offices, to the state Baptist papers and are posted online at sbc.net/cp.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Jonathan Howe is vice president for communications at the SBC Executive Committee.)