Contributions to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries received by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee in October were 17.69 percent above last year’s opening month of the Convention’s fiscal year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Page.
As of Oct. 31, gifts received by the Executive Committee for distribution through the Cooperative Program (CP) Allocation Budget totaled $16,019,180.85, or 2,407,746.71 above the $13,611,434.14 received in October 2013.
Meanwhile, designated giving of $3,403,210.15 during October was 6.21 percent, or $198,976.91, above gifts of $3,204,233.24 received last October. This total includes only those gifts received and distributed by the Executive Committee and does not reflect designated gifts contributed directly to SBC entities.
“We receive this good report with gratitude,” Page said. “We typically receive a CP bump when October follows a five-Sunday August. With total gifts through our churches down by almost $1 billion over the past six years, we know there is much yet to be done in regard to teaching our people about personal stewardship and biblical tithing. But we remain hopeful that this report provides tangible evidence that confidence in Cooperative Program support for our missions and ministries continues to grow.”
The October total of $16,019,180.85 is 2.25 percent above the $15,666,666.67 monthly allocation budget projection to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America.
The CP is Southern Baptists’ channel of giving, begun in 1925, through which a local church can contribute to the ministries of its state convention and the missions and ministries of the SBC with a single monthly or weekly contribution. Monies include receipts from individuals, churches, state conventions and fellowships for distribution according to the 2014-15 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget.
The convention-adopted budget for 2014-2015 is 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, 2.99 percent to the SBC operating budget and 1.65 percent to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
Designated contributions include the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions, Southern Baptist Global Hunger Relief and other special gifts.
State and regional conventions retain a portion of church contributions to the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program 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.
Month-to-month swings reflect a number of factors, including the timing of when the state conventions forward the national portion of Cooperative Program contributions to the Executive Committee, the day of the month churches forward their CP contributions to their state conventions, the number of Sundays in a given month, and the percentage of CP contributions forwarded to the SBC by the state conventions after shared ministry expenses are deducted.