NASHVILLE (BP) – As Southern Baptists prepare to gather in New Orleans for the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting, churches have given more than $130 million through the National Cooperative Program Allocation Budget in the first eight months of the fiscal year, with more than $16.3 million given in March.
“The sustained giving through the Cooperative program after the first eight months is another reminder that SBC churches and state conventions continue focusing on reaching the lost at home and around the globe,” SBC Executive Committee interim president and CEO Willie McLaurin said in a statement. “As we fix our eyes on fulfilling the Great Commission, our faithful God has taken gifts given through local churches and multiplied these gifts to accomplish his purpose on a scale much greater than what we can do individually. I want to thank every church for every gift.”
May National Cooperative Program giving:
- Monthly budgeted amount: $16,022,500.00
- May 2023 giving: $16,360,572.36
- Above/under budget: $338,072.36 (2.11 percent) above budget
Total National Cooperative Program giving:
- Year to date budgeted amount: $128,180,000.00
- Year to date giving: $129,993,817.73
- Above/under budget: $1,813,817.73 (1.42 percent) above budget
Designated giving:
- May giving: $17,261,114.18
- Year to date giving: $150,987,550.07
- Previous year total: $157,443,290.90
- Above/under previous year: $6,455,740.83 (4.10 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.
