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IRVING—It was a gathering of friends with a purpose: celebrating 100 years of the Cooperative Program, the Southern Baptist Convention’s funding mechanism supported by the generous contributions of its congregations.
Guests filtered into the Grand Ballroom of the Irving Convention Center for the annual CP luncheon on the final day of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Empower Conference on Tuesday, Feb. 25. SBTC Associate Executive Director Joe Lightner reminded the capacity crowd of the importance of investing in the Great Commission, embodied in the SBTC’s mission focus of “mobilizing churches to multiply disciple-making movements in Texas and around the world.” The SBTC accomplishes that mission through resourcing churches, networking leaders, and advancing mission.
The SBTC continues its practice of forwarding 55% of undesignated receipts to the national SBC for CP use while retaining 45% for ministry in Texas, Lightner said. With 2025 marking CP’s 100th anniversary, he encouraged guests to celebrate that landmark in three ways: by praying for record CP giving, by planning a CP Sunday event at their churches, and by posting about CP on social media using the hashtag #cp100story.
“Help us this year to flood” social media with CP testimonies, Lightner urged.
Three leaders with strong CP connections took the stage to pray. Barry Calhoun, IMB church mobilization strategist, thanked God for what He has done through CP giving. Calhoun related an anecdote about a small congregation of 89 members that set a Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal of $7,000—only to exceed that by 26%.
Send Network SBTC director Julio Arriola praised God for the hundreds of new churches planted through the North American Mission Board last year, including 65 through the SBTC. He reminded guests that 20 million people remain lost in Texas, so the vital work must continue.
Carl Bradford, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary evangelism professor and dean of Texas Baptist College, expressed thanks for scholarships provided to seminary students by the Cooperative Program.
‘The value of our inheritance’
Byron McWilliams, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Odessa, served as the luncheon’s keynote speaker. “As a fellow Southern Baptist, [I want] to celebrate and encourage you to hang on and keep the faith as we remember some of the shining moments in SBC history,” McWilliams said.
Though challenges will always, McWilliams encouraged Southern Baptists to “lock our arms together and walk through these things,” urging the audience to bear in mind three truths in light of current and future challenges. Drawing from Hebrews 10:32-39, McWilliams cautioned listeners to guard against the perils of forgetfulness.
“Memory is a gift. You can’t live the spiritual life without having a great memory of what God has done,” he said, recalling the “shining moment” when the SBC was formed in May 1845 in Augusta, Ga. The founders never fathomed the movement would grow to include 47,000 churches today, he marveled.
A second shining moment occurred in 1925, when the Cooperative Program was adopted. McWilliams called CP a mechanism that SBC churches can “get their arms around.” Evoking Deuteronomy 6, he urged his audience to take care lest Southern Baptists forget the “spiritual giants” on whose shoulders we stand. Pastors such as W.A. Criswell, Adrian Rogers, and Charles Stanley, McWilliams said, “cut the road before us.”
“We must recall the value of our inheritance,” he said, interspersing exposition of Hebrews 10:32 and Joshua 4:7 with recollections of the Conservative Resurgence of the late 20th century. McWilliams recalled the 1979 SBC Annual Meeting, where Rogers—a conservative pastor and champion of biblical inerrancy—was elected SBC president in Houston on the first ballot.
“It took 20 years to turn the tide … to uproot the liberal professors from our seminaries. Twenty painful years. Was it worth it? Amen,” McWilliams said.
“We stand on the infallible Word of God. I am not going to be part of a convention that does not believe that,” he continued, praising the biblical leadership of Nathan Lorick and Jim Richards, executive director and executive director emeritus and of the SBTC, respectively. “We stand on the Word of God and we will not budge.”
Finally, McWilliams exhorted the crowd to “not shrink back, but stand firm.” Quoting statistics supplied by the International Mission Board, he noted there are 3,572 active IMB missionaries on the field and 1,500 in the pipeline waiting to be sent. These servants of God depend on CP funding.
“I’ll give you 3,572 reasons why [your churches] should not withhold CP funds,” McWilliams said, adding “gospel and kingdom advance do not come easy” and urging, “We must not take our foot off the gas or we will be calling missionaries home.
“Don’t disdain the shining moments of the past,” McWilliams said in closing. “Realize the rich heritage. … [Know] there are more shining moments to come.”
