The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee received $2,468,495.77 through Feb. 28, including receipts from state conventions and fellowships, churches and individuals for distribution according to the 2012-13 SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget, Executive Committee President Frank Page said.
"We continue to monitor the economy and its impact on our cooperating churches. We have set a reasonable yet challenging Cooperative Program budget goal for this year, given how hard many Southern Baptists have been hit by the Great Recession," Page said.
"I am pleased to see that the precipitous drop in CP contributions of the previous three years has slowed, and am optimistic that we are seeing positive signs of an economic recovery for our people and churches," he said. "As our people get on better footing financially, it will allow our ministries to begin planning for increased numbers of missionary appointments and church planting assignments."
Receipts totaled $80,801,829.12, or 103.15 percent of the $78,333,333.35 year-to-date amount budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries nationally and globally, and $820,271.66 less than the $81,622,100.78 received through the end of February 2012.
Designated giving of $92,520,270.11 through February is 6.13 percent, or $5,340,338.38, above gifts of $87,179,931.73 received at this point last year. Totals include only those gifts received and distributed by the Executive Committee and do not reflect designated gifts contributed directly to SBC entities.
The Cooperative Program of giving allows local churches to support both the ministries of their state conventions and the SBC with a single contribution.
The budget is distributed 50.2 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, 3.2 percent to the SBC operating budget, and 1.65 percent to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
If the SBC exceeds its annual budget goal of $188 million, IMB's share would increase to 51 percent of any overage in CP allocation budget receipts. Other SBC ministry entities would receive their adopted percentage amounts and the SBC operating budget's portion would be reduced to 2.4 percent of any overage.
Traditionally, state and regional conventions have acted as collecting entities for CP contributions. They retain a portion of church contributions to the CP to support work in their respective areas and forward a percentage to SBC national and international causes. The percentage of distribution from the states is at the discretion of the messengers of each state convention through the adoption of the state convention's annual budget.
CP allocation budget receipts received by the Executive Committee are reported monthly to SBC entity executives, state offices and denominational papers and are posted online at www.cpmissions.net/CPReports.
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