By Matt Easter
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is another in a series of features on Missouri Baptist ministries supported for a century through the Cooperative Program giving of MBC-affiliated churches. Matt Easter serves as director of Christian studies and associate professor of biblical studies at Missouri Baptist University.
The Cooperative Program (CP) is the Southern Baptist Convention’s unified plan of giving through which cooperating SBC churches give a percentage of their undesignated receipts in support of their state convention and SBC missions and ministries.
Born in 1925 of a desire to achieve more together than any individual SBC church could accomplish alone, CP enables congregations of all sizes to pool their resources for shared gospel causes.
For smaller congregations, engaging in large-scale missions can often seem out of reach.
Kevin Sullivan, pastor of First Baptist Church of Owensville, Mo., believes the Cooperative Program is a particular blessing to smaller churches that are limited in their capacity to do missions on their own.
“Cooperation is the best way to be most effective,” he states. Through CP, even the smallest churches can contribute to global mission efforts.
Cooperation benefits larger churches, too.
Buddy Perstrope, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of St. Charles, Mo., named several ways “we can do more together by ‘tithing back’ through the Cooperative Program”: training pastors in colleges and seminaries, supporting our neighbors through disaster relief, sharing the gospel worldwide, caring for widows and orphans, and more.
No single church, no matter the size, could do all this alone. Cooperation opens the door to greater impact.
In addition to the greater impact cooperation brings, giving through CP also allows church members to stay involved in God’s work throughout the year.
While some members go on short-term mission trips, the Cooperative Program allows the entire church to be involved in missions year-round. As Sullivan emphasized, through CP, members are “not just doing missions themselves but enabling full-time missionaries.”
A church may participate in a monthly service project, but the members’ CP giving extends their service well beyond the days they are active in the field.
Individual church members may help clean up after a hurricane, but by giving through the Cooperative Program, these members help victims of natural disasters even when they are unable to go. Giving through CP, therefore, extends both the scale and time of gospel impact.
Yet, as powerful as the Cooperative Program is, many church members might not understand its importance.
Education and motivation are keys
How are pastors of CP-supporting churches motivating their members to give?
First, as Milton Harrington, pastor of First Baptist Church of Charleston, Mo., noted, any church that gives faithfully to the Cooperative Program is primarily motivated by strong gospel-centered preaching.
When church members embrace their calling to fulfill the Great Commission, they will be primed to go on and support missions.
Second, pastors play a critical role in educating their congregations about CP. Education drives generosity.
When people know where their money is going and understand the real-world impact of their giving, they are often more inclined to give.
Harrington noted how little young adults seem to know about the Cooperative Program, so pastors must commit to ongoing education.
This education comes from the pulpit and new members’ classes, where pastors can connect the dots between local church giving and worldwide impact.
As Sullivan reminds his church, “When you give, it’s more than just our church; it’s combined with thousands of others.” More than 47,000 churches across the Southern Baptist Convention, that is.
Even annual budget discussions give pastors the opportunity to share the church’s heart for missions.
Third, pastors of CP-supporting churches remind the flock about the Cooperative Program during times of offering.
Sullivan mentions CP in his offertory prayers, helping members see their giving as an act of worship that contributes to missions and evangelism beyond the local church. This focus has borne fruit.
FBC Owensville has increased its CP giving three times in the last twelve years, and the congregation’s overall giving has risen by 30 percent.
Finally, pastors of CP-supporting churches are making the impact of CP visible in personal ways.
FBC St. Charles, for example, partners with IMB missionaries who are related to members of the church, giving the congregation a direct line to the gospel work being done overseas.
Similarly, churches can bring in speakers or student groups who highlight specific ministries supported by CP.
Leaders from MBC institutions like the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home or Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries, or drama or music student groups from one of the Baptist universities, help church members connect faces to their CP giving.
As church members hear from real people, it reminds them that the Cooperative Program is not just about dollars, but about people, communities, and lives transformed by the gospel.
By sharing stories from the field, inviting speakers who testify to the power of cooperation, and consistently emphasizing CP’s role in missions, pastors can help foster a culture of generosity and global awareness.
The Cooperative Program is more than a budget line item. It’s a lifeline for missions, both local and global, that allows churches to pool their resources and make a kingdom impact.
After all, we truly can do more together.