Missouri CP giving up 7% 1st quarter

Missouri CP giving up 7% 1st quarter

By Bob Baysinger
Managing Editor

April 13, 2004

JEFFERSON CITY – A sizeable March Cooperative Program (CP) offering by Missouri Baptists ($1,610,125) helped push total first quarter CP giving well ahead of the 2003 pace.

The 2004 first quarter CP total, according to Jay Hughes, Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) controller, was $3,896,528, up almost $248,000 from the $3,648,577 given during the first three months of 2003.

“I am absolutely encouraged about CP giving," said Mike Dennis, who coordinates the CP program for the Convention. “I’m excited about how Missouri Baptists are giving to missions through CP."

Hughes said the March offering followed the pattern of a big CP month following a month with five Sundays.

Inclement weather affected church offerings the first two months of 2004.

Both the January CP offering ($1,224,212) and February offering ($1,062,191) were down from corresponding months in 2003. Giving, in fact, was down 5.78 percent after February receipts were counted.

The March offering, up from the $1.22 million offering in March 2003, pushed total 2004 giving seven percent ahead of last year’s pace.

Messengers to the 2003 MBC annual meeting approved a $16.75 million budget for 2004. The first three-month total is 3.26 percent below budget needs.

Meanwhile, year-to-date contributions through the SBC’s Cooperative Program are up 2.52 percent compared to the same time frame in 2003.

As of March 31, 2004, the year-to-date total of $95,454,884.61 for Cooperative Program (CP) Missions is $2,342,112.91 ahead of the $93,112,771.70 received at this same point in 2003 (see related story on page 6).