JEFFERSON CITY – Beginning in January, Southern Baptists will celebrate the 100th anniversary of their partnership in missions giving, known as the Cooperative Program (CP). Missouri Baptists have been part of this audacious undertaking from the beginning, contributing more than $760 million to missions at the state, national, and international levels since 1925.
For Missouri Baptists, the year-long celebration begins early – specifically, Oct. 28-29 at the MBC Annual Meeting in St. Charles. There, messengers and visitors will attend the premiere of a new CP animated video; receive commemorative gifts; visit a special CP 100 exhibit booth; participate in a survey; and take home bulletin inserts and other resources to help promote the Cooperative Program and hail its 100-year history.
The Cooperative Program is the envy of the evangelical community for the efficient and effective way it enables 47,000 independent churches to work together to advance the gospel. CP enables every giver and every church to make an impact for Christ at home and around the world.
CP and you
The Cooperative Program begins with you – your tithes and offerings to your local church. Your church, in turn, shares a portion of its annual income with the Cooperative Program, sending its CP gifts to the MBC, which distributes CP funds from more than 1,700 MBC-affiliated churches according to an approved plan.
This plan supports dozens of ministries in Missouri, across North America, and around the world:
- evangelism and discipleship
- church planting and revitalization
- disaster relief
- foster care
- rescue from human trafficking
- ministries to the aged
- North American and international missionaries
- ethics and religious liberty
- retirement benefits for pastors
- training and leadership development
“We are so grateful to Missouri Baptists for their faithful giving to their churches, and their churches’ generosity through CP,” said Rob Phillips, who directs CP promotion for the MBC. “For 100 years, Missouri Baptists have demonstrated that we can do more together.”
John Marshall, retired senior pastor of Second Baptist Church, Springfield, comments: “It has often comforted me to know the smallest church in the smallest association can have a part in worldwide mission advance due to the Cooperative Program…. Southern Baptists are blessed to have this God-honoring way of giving to the Lord’s work.”
The MBC has launched a special website to help Missouri Baptists stay abreast of the year-long celebration. Visitors to mobaptist.org/cp100 will find videos, feature stories, testimonials, promotional items, and other resources for viewing, printing, downloading, and sharing. More items will be added each month.
Meanwhile, Missouri Baptists should watch The Pathway for news and feature stories. They also may wish to check Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram for frequent social media posts.