We can do more together

A number of state conventions are struggling with Cooperative Program receipts. I believe there are several reasons the SBTC has experienced phenomenal growth. One major reason is that churches have the confidence that their money goes to causes they believe in. The SBTC is supporting more than 100 church planters in Texas. Students are having a part of their education paid for at The Criswell College. Scores of ministries are facilitated by the SBTC staff for Texas Baptists. Family care, disaster relief, and various “hands-on” works are funded by the in-state CP. Without building a large bureaucracy, we have been able to find institutional partners like Texas Baptist Men, Houston Baptist University, and East Texas Baptist Family Ministry. Space does not permit to report all of the many facets of the SBTC.

Another reason for the confidence in giving is the relationship the SBTC has with the Southern Baptist Convention. We fully support the missionary endeavors of the International and North American Mission Boards. The six SBC seminaries teach the Word of God as inerrant and infallible. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission stands for pro-life and pro-family causes. Even the Annuity Board receives some funds for relief of under-funded annuitants. Churches in the SBTC are Southern Baptist. They identify with the national and international efforts the Southern Baptist Convention does so well.

A third reason churches give through the Cooperative Program is that they realize the societal method does not work. Having appeals from various groups or having multiple designations dilutes the focus that the cooperative method provides. While some churches are drifting toward an independent approach to missions and ministry, the vast majority continue to value the proven Cooperative Program. Missionaries supported through the Cooperative Program undergird and follow-up on mission trips done by the churches. Small- and medium-size churches are serviced through the Cooperative Program. Large churches have the stewardship of influence to identify with the cooperative effort. No church is so large that it can do it all alone. No church is too small that it cannot be a part of one of God’s greatest enterprises.

April 18 is Cooperative Program Day. I encourage you to speak to your Sunday School class, missions team or church about the greatest giving vehicle ever devised by man and blessed by God. Working together we can do more. Giving together we can touch more people than we can separately. Tell the Good News of Jesus. Also, tell about how we participate as Southern Baptists through the Cooperative Program.