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IRVING—Southern Baptists of Texas Convention President Todd Kaunitz had a clear message for the 400 or so people who gathered for lunch in the Grand Ballroom of the Irving Convention Center Tuesday during SBTC’s Empower conference.
“God is doing a great work in our state,” he said at the luncheon, which annually aims to highlight the value of Cooperative Program giving among SBTC and SBC churches. “We are advancing the mission like no other group of churches. Cooperative giving is what fuels the mission.”
The Cooperative Program refers to the Southern Baptist practice of churches partnering with one another to steward God-given resources to advance the gospel and mission of Jesus Christ. These resources are commonly used in ministry areas including evangelism, disaster relief, and church planting.
Powerful giving testimonies were offered at the luncheon, including from Ryan Napier—a church planter and pastor of Freedom Hill Church in San Antonio. He said he and his church—which ranked among the top 5 CP-giving church plants among SBTC churches in 2021—are “probably the most excited new Southern Baptists that you will ever meet in your life.”
He told the story of a neighbor who accepted Christ after more than two years of witnessing and prayer. Within 27 days of his salvation, the neighbor died of COVID. Napier preached the man’s funeral on Saturday and baptized the neighbor’s family the next day.
“On behalf of church planters across the state, thank you for your giving. And please don’t give up on giving,” Napier said. “We can always do more.”
Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, said the funds his church gives annually to CP could pay the salaries of three additional staff members. He noted, however, that all his staff had received training at CP-supported institutions. “Giving to the Cooperative Program is investing in staff,” he said.
Because of CP funding supporting the International Mission Board, FBC Farmersville has also been connected to an unreached, unengaged people group in Senegal, Barber added. “We didn’t know that people group existed until CP-funded missionaries told us that they did. We didn’t know there was no missionary presence there until the International Mission Board did the research. … Because we give to the Cooperative Program, everything we do to be engaged directly in national and international mission work is well-trained, well-planned, and fits into an overall worldwide strategy for impacting the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Together we can accomplish great things,” Barber added, confirming that his church has been made stronger through its CP commitment. “We keep writing that check, and I don’t shed a tear.”
Other SBTC pastors gave similar testimonies, either in person or via recorded video. Richard Rogers, pastor of University Heights Baptist in Huntsville—home to Sam Houston State University and its 21,000 college students—said CP giving has enabled his church to do ministry at a higher level through its support of collegiate outreach and collegiate church planters. J.C. Rico, pastor of Immanuel Baptist (SBTC’s westernmost Texas church), said CP giving enabled his church to minister to the victims and families of the August 2019 shooting at an El Paso Walmart through feeding, counseling, and a church-sponsored prayer event.
Said Kaunitz, who pastors New Beginnings Baptist Church in Longview: “We can’t do it alone. We are better together.”
