The 2023 fiscal year for the national Cooperative Program (CP) giving got off to what has become a typical slow start this October. As has been the case for five of the past seven years, giving was strong but below budget to begin the year with just over $15.1 million given nationally.
“I am grateful that churches continue to maintain a steadfastness in giving,” Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee interim president Willie McLaurin said in a statement. “I am encouraged by the number of state conventions who have increased the Cooperative Program gifts they forward to advance the Great Commission beyond the borders of their state.”
The amount given through the CP in October 2022 totaled $15,161,590.92, which was $860,909.08 (5.37%) less than the monthly budgeted amount of $16,022,500.00.
Designated gifts received in October 2022 amounted to $3,816,407.68, which was $162,052.56, or 4.07%, less than gifts of $3,721,589.56 received last October.
The convention-adopted budget for 2022-23 is $192,270,000 and includes an initial $200,000 special priority allocation for the SBC Vision 2025 initiative. CP funds are then disbursed as follows: 50.41% to international missions through the International Mission Board, 22.79% to North American missions through the North American Mission Board, 22.16% to theological education through the six SBC seminaries and the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, 2.99% to the SBC operating budget and 1.65% 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.
