JEFFERSON CITY – During their meeting here, March 4-5, the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) executive board recommended 2025 goals for the Cooperative Program (CP) and other statewide offerings.
The board set the 2025 CP goal at $15 million, while setting statewide offering goals as follows: $800,000 for the Missouri Missions Offering (MMO); $4 million for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering; $2.2 million for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering; and $150,000 for the World Hunger Funds.
JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director Wes Fowler gives a plaque of appreciation to MBC Multiplying Churches director Rick Hedger, who is retiring from the MBC this month to begin ministry with Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Springfield. (Photo by Neil Sneed/MBC)
The board also approved the MBC’s 2025-2026 allocation goals, which are based on a $15 million CP budget. This CP budget sets aside 6 percent of the total CP giving for “SBC/MBC shared administrative costs,” which funds annuity protections, CP promotion and The Pathway.
From the remaining balance of the CP budget, 36.84 percent is allocated for Missouri Baptist missions and ministries.
Additionally, 23.16 percent is allocated for Missouri Baptist entities, including the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home, Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries, the Missouri Baptist Foundation, Hannibal-LaGrange University, Missouri Baptist University and Southwest Baptist University.
The remaining 40 percent is allocated for Southern Baptist Convention missions and ministries. Any CP receipts above the budgetary goal will be split equally between MBC and SBC ministries.
Other business
In other business, the MBC executive board:
• recommended the 2025 distribution plan for MMO funds received in 2023;
• approved exhibitors for the 2024 MBC annual meeting;
• recommended the distribution of the MBC’s underspend;
• approved MBC executive director Wes Fowlers as the registered agent for the MBC executive board, replacing former executive director John Yeats in this role;
• and reaffirmed their “prior approval of up to $15 million in total debt” by the Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries (BHHM) for construction projects at the entity’s Ashland campus. In 2020, the executive board approved financing for these construction projects (as previously reported by The Pathway here.) This month, the executive board approved the “BHHM’s request, subject to the additional approval of the Convention officers, to reallocate and/or refinance the debt between short- and long-term debt, as deemed prudent by BHHM.” This action allows the BHHM to reallocate funds to help finish projects at the Ashland campus.