Since 1925, the Cooperative Program has both helped unite Baptists around missions and ministry and at the same time has served to reflect contemporary Baptist giving priorities. These priorities can change from time to time though and we may be in one of those times now as Baptists across the Convention are soul searching about the best ways to fulfill Christ’s command to take His Gospel to every person on the planet.

To determine where we need to go though, it’s important to understand where we are now in terms of church giving to missions and ministries. Here in Kentucky, churches are financially supporting Baptist causes in a variety of ways. Based on the 2007-2008 fiscal year for the KBC (the latest available audited numbers), here’s how church giving through the Kentucky Baptist Convention shook out:

Total Giving to SBC and KBC causes — $33,176,633

Southern Baptist Convention causes — $15,916,346 (48%)

• Cooperative Program – $8,759,346
• Lottie Moon Offering – $4,435,032
• Annie Armstrong Offering – $1,970,430
• Other SBC-related designated giving – $474,930
• World Hunger Relief gifts – $276,608

Kentucky Baptist Convention causes – $17,260,287 (52%)

• Cooperative Program – $15,108,083
• Eliza Broadus State Missions Offering – $1,105,722
• Thanksgiving offering for Sunrise Children’s Services – $503,191
• Gifts designated for Kentucky only – $369,018
• Gifts designated for Kentucky Christian education – $122,463
• Other KBC-related gifts – $29,881
• Father’s Day offering for Oneida Baptist Institute – $12,829
• Mother’s Day gifts for Baptist Healthcare System – $9,100

Southern Baptist Convention — $9,136,887 (37.32%)

The Cooperative Program allocation that goes to the Southern Baptist Convention is divided the following ways based on the SBC’s CP funding formula:

• International Mission Board – $4,568,445 (18.66%)
  The International Mission Board is the organization that leads our missions works outside of the United States and Canada. The funds help support the operations of the Mission Board and support staff located in Richmond, Va. as well as the work of more than 5,500 missionaries around the world.
• North American Mission Board – $2,082,297 (8.51%)
  The North American Mission Board is the organization that leads our missions work inside the United States and Canada. The funds help support the operations of the Mission Board and support staff located in Alpharetta, Ga. as well as the work of more than 5,600 missionaries, many of them jointly funded by NAMB and the state conventions, who serve across the nation.
• Southern Baptist Seminaries – $2,002,805 (8.18%)
  Southern Baptists have six seminaries that provide theological education — Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Ca.; Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, La.; Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.; Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.; and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
• SBC Operating Budget – $310,654 (1.27%)
  The amount goes to fund the SBC Executive Committee and related activities, such as the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting and Baptist Press. The SBC Executive Committee has its offices in Nashville, Tenn.
• Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission – $150,758 (.62%)
  The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is an agency of the SBC dedicated to addressing social and moral concerns and their implications on public policy issues. It has offices in Nashville, Tenn. and Washington, D.C.
• Historical Library & Archives – $21,928 (.09%)
  The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives is a worldwide center for the study of Baptist history. Operated by the Council of Seminary Presidents, the SBHLA is one of the major denominational collections in the nation and serves by assignment of the Southern Baptist Convention as the central depository and archives of SBC records. The Library and Archives is located in the Southern Baptist Convention Building in Nashville, Tenn.

Kentucky Baptist Mission Board — $9,015,276 (36.83%)

The Cooperative Program allocation to the Kentucky Baptist Mission Board is divided the following ways:

• Leadership Development — $1,673,185 (6.83%)
  Funds the Church Retirement Plan for Kentucky Baptist ministers and church staff; leadership development training and consultation for churches; support for ministers in need; couples and seniors events; worship and music training and consultation; the Shepherding the Shepherd Conference and more.
• Evangelism Growth — $1,508,682 (6.16%)
  Funds evangelism training events; on-site consultation for churches and associations; Baptist Campus Ministry on college campuses statewide; evangelism conferences; Crossover activities; creative ministries training events and more.
• Missions Growth — $1,292,738 (5.28%)
  Funds disaster relief, construction, ex-offender mentoring and other ministries; ethnic and language ministries; new church starts; association support; partnership missions projects and more.
• Church Development — $1,142,537 (4.67%)
  Funds training events for churches; youth leader training and youth events; on-site training and consutations for chures and associations; support for Sunday school and discipleship training efforts; church building efforts; stewardship training and more.
• Executive Office — $1,264,713 (5.17%)
  Funds Cooperative Program promotion; communications services such as printed material, Web site management and video production; research; special Convention projects and more.
• Business Services — $1,157,911 (4.73%)
  Funds distribution of CP and other funds; accounting and budget services; collection of Annual Church Profile data; human resource management; Mission Board computer systems and more.
• General Items — $975,510 (3.98%)
  Funds KBC scholarships, maintenance of the Kentucky Baptist Archives; expenses of the Kentucky Baptist annual meeting; KBC committee work; and more.

Christian Education and KBC Entities — $6,327,837 (25.85%)

The final group to receive Cooperative Program funding from Kentucky is made of 10 Christian education institutions and other entities. They are:

• Campbellsville University*
  Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is a comprehensive, Christain education institution located in Campbellsville, Ky.
• Clear Creek Baptist Bible College*
  Founded in 1926, Clear Creek Baptist Bible College is located in Pineville. The college provides a Bible-based education focused on Christian service.
• Oneida Baptist Institute*
  Oneida Baptist Institute is a unique Christian boarding school for boys and girls in grades 6-12. The school combines the values of a traditional Christian school with openness to non-Christians and students with all kinds of needs and backgrounds.
• University of the Cumberlands*
  The University of the Cumberlands is a comprehensive, Christian education institution located in Williamsburg, Ky.
• Kentucky Woman’s Missionary Union — $529,947 (2.16%)
  The Kentucky Woman’s Missionary Union is an auxiliary of the KBC that focuses on missions education and support. Kentucky WMU is the sponsor of the Eliza Broadus Offering for Kentucky state missions.
• Western Recorder — $403,872 (1.65%)
  The Western Recorder is the state Baptist newspaper for Kentucky. It publishes weekly on Tuesday and is distributed by mail statewide. All Kentucky Baptist pastors receive a free subscription.
• Kentucky Baptist Assemblies — $402,298 (1.64%)
  Operating under the name “Crossings Ministries,” Kentucky Baptist Assemblies is a camping ministry that exists to provide an encironment in which guests can come to Christ or more fully experience Him. Through Cedarmore Conference Center near Bagdad, Ky. and Jonathan Creek Conference Center in Hardin, Ky., KBA offers a vaiety of camping and mission experiences for children, youth and adults as well as facilities that groups can use for their own events and retreats.
• Sunrise Children’s Services — $369,091 (1.51%)
  Formerly known as Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, Sunrise Children’s Services is a non-profit agency that cares for children and youth who have fallen victim to abuse or neglect. Sunrise has residential programs and foster care homes throughout Kentucky. Sunrise also has pregnancy and adoption services and provides family counseling.
• Kentucky Baptist Foundation — $350,665 (1.43%)
  The Kentucky Baptist Foundation provides financial services for individuals, KBC-related churches, associations, institutions and agencies and certain other organizations. The Foundation also provides investment management and accounting services for Kentucky and Southern Baptist-related churches, associations, institutions and agencies and certain other organizations.
• Kentucky Baptist Healthcare System — $6,652 (.03%)
  One of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in Kentucky, the Baptist Healthcare System owns five acute-care hospitals with more than 1,500 licensed beds in Louisville, Lexington, Paducah, Corbin and La Grange, and manages a 300-bed acute-care hospital in Elizabethtown.

* An exact allocation goal for Christian education is not available yet because some of those dollars are based upon student credit hours which were not available at the time the budget was approved. For Christian education as a group, the total CP allocation goal is $4,265,313 (17.42%).

I don’t profess to have the exact answer to the question of the ideal assignment of missions resources. That is certainly one of the questions that the national Great Commission Task Force will certainly wrestle with and Baptists in each state convention will also have to develop their own answers as we move forward. I do know that the situation in each state convention is somewhat different though and that it’s unlikely that a “one size fits all” approach is likely to provide the answer.

For instance, as the division of Cooperative Program funds given by the churches is discussed, the conversation is often framed in terms of how close any given convention comes to having a 50%-50% split between the SBC and the state convention. What many don’t think about, however, is that while in some states the CP pie really is divided only two ways, in other states — especially in those that are known as the “old line SBC states” – the pie is really sliced three ways. This is certainly the case in Kentucky where Cooperative Program dollars are shared among the Southern Baptist Convention, the Kentucky Baptist Mission Board and a group of 10 additional Baptist entities.

The process for developing the CP allocations in Kentucky is driven by Kentucky Baptists themselves through their elected members of the Kentucky Baptist Mission Board. (Kentucky has one of the most representative mission boards of any state convention with some 170 members from churches of all sizes representing all associations and regions of the state.) The allocation formula and CP budget goals are first approved by the Mission Board’s Business and Finance Committee which then makes a recommendation to the full Mission Board before going to the messengers for approval at the Kentucky Baptist Convention annual meeting.

Based on the budget allocations approved by messengers at this past November’s KBC annual meeting, here are the numbers for the upcoming 2009-2010 budget year that begins Sept. 1:

• Southern Baptist Convention — $9,136,887 (37.32%)
• Kentucky Baptist Mission Board — $9,015,276 (36.83%)
• Christian Education and KBC Entities — $6,327,837 (25.85%)

If you add the numbers up, you’ll see that the total Kentucky CP goal for 2009-2010 is $24,480,000. This goal was set before the national economy tanked, however, so unless the Lord intervenes, we may not actually see that amount this coming year. Kentucky Baptist Mission Board budgets have been put together based on total anticipated CP receipts of $23 million.

In the next post I’ll provide more detail on the allocations within each of these three areas.