ST. CHARLES – Messengers to the MBC Annual Meeting in St. Charles, Oct. 28-29, shared their thoughts on the Cooperative Program by taking part in a short survey. The results reveal their knowledge of CP and their preferred usage of CP materials provided by the MBC missionary staff.
Nearly 200 messengers and guests completed the 10-question survey, which consisted of two parts. Part I sought to discover what Missouri Baptists know about CP. Part II asked for feedback on which CP materials MBC-affiliated churches use for educational and promotional purposes.
Understanding CP
Given four possible definitions of the Cooperative Program, 86 percent of respondents properly answered that the Cooperative Program is “the funding process Southern Baptists have used since 1925 to support missions at the state, national, and international levels.” This shows an improvement in understanding CP. Last year, fewer than 70 percent of respondents answered correctly.
Five respondents said CP is an annual MBC membership fee, and 18 messengers thought CP is a term used to describe various levels of cooperation at the regional, state, and national levels.
The survey also sought to reveal how well Missouri Baptists understand CP, and 84 percent of respondents said they have at least a basic understanding of CP, including how well CP funds are distributed. Nearly a third of that group said they understand CP so well, they could teach it to their church or small group.
Next, every respondent correctly identified the following statement as true: “The Cooperative Program begins with you – your tithes and offerings to your Missouri Baptist church.”
In one other question, 80 percent understood that ministers of MBC churches are eligible to receive life insurance, as well as contributions to their retirement accounts, thanks to CP.
Talking about CP
More than 28 percent of respondents said their pastor and other church leaders speak about CP monthly or more often, while 41 percent said they see or hear CP promotions at least once every few months.
Videos are the preferred, and most-used, CP resources in MBC churches, with bulletin inserts and posters also proving popular. Among the resources considered “most useful,” videos and guest speakers from the MBC or Southern Baptist Convention topped the list.
Finally, respondents were asked to share why they think CP isn’t promoted more often in their churches. Nearly four in 10 respondents said, “CP is hard to understand; it’s a complicated system.” Another 26 percent said their church focuses more on specific ministries than on the broad funding of multiple ministries through CP.
“We’re so grateful for the input of Missouri Baptists regarding CP funding,” said Rob Phillips, who directs CP promotions for the MBC. “We learned several truths in the survey, and in our conversations with those who stopped by the CP display. These help us improve our communications, especially as we launch the 100th anniversary celebration of CP in 2025.”
Among the discoveries, according to Phillips:
(1) Missouri Baptists generally have a good understanding of the Cooperative Program and how it works to support missions in Missouri, across North America, and around the world. This understanding has improved over the last year.
(2) Without exception, respondents indicated they understand that CP begins with them as individuals, giving to their local churches. That’s the key to cooperative ministries.
(3) A small percentage of respondents – 2.5 percent – said they’ve never heard their church leaders speak about the Cooperative Program, while 69 percent said they hear about CP at least once every few months.
(4) Missouri Baptists are aware that the MBC has many resources to help church leaders educate their people about CP: videos, bulletin inserts, posters, children’s activity books, bookmarks, etc.
(5) Making CP easier to understand is a challenge the MBC and Southern Baptist Convention must continue to address.
Complete survey results are posted online at mobaptist.org/cp.