The Baptist Digest

SBC Attitudes Toward Missions Giving

By Bob Rodgers

August 2010

Some Southern Baptist leaders have recently stated in essence that, “Most Southern Baptists feel that at least 50 percent of our Cooperative Program dollars should be going overseas, should be going to international missions.” They must be drawing their conclusions that most Southern Baptists believe that 50 percent of CP dollars should go to international missions based on anecdotal evidence, because I have seen no facts to support the claim. If the facts are there, they have never surfaced for public scrutiny.

By late 2007, I was very frustrated by not knowing what Southern Baptists actually thought and believed about the Cooperative Program. Dr. Morris H. Chapman, president, SBC Executive Committee, came to my rescue by commissioning a survey that reached out to every church in the SBC. LifeWay’s Research Division, led by Dr. Ed Stetzer, conducted the survey, analyzed the input, and produced the survey results. There were over 9,020 respondents to the survey, well beyond the number required for statistical reliability. And since every church was invited to participate, there was no survey bias that might be found if only a sampling of the SBC were conducted.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence out there, but we have empirical data resulting from this survey. Some of the findings are counterintuitive. Some of the findings dispel my own preconceived notions about the level of discontent over the state/SBC split as well as other notions. For example:

Misconception 1. That state conventions keep too much of the CP gifts for state missions and ministries.

Misconception 2. That most Southern Baptists believe 50 percent of CP dollars should go to support international missions.

What the survey said:

• Over 87 percent of responding pastors were generally satisfied with CP.
• Approximately 76 percent of responding pastors strongly believed that CP allows their church to support more mission endeavors than they could do on their own.
• 91 percent of responding pastors agree that the CP supports SBC entities, missions, and ministries that their church values.
• 85 percent of responding pastors agree that CP supports state entities, missions, and ministries that their church values.
• 70 percent of responding pastors agree that CP allocates contributions among state, national, and global ministries, missions, and entities appropriately.
• 61 percent of responding pastors agree that the division of contributions between state conventions and the SBC is appropriate, and 80 percent of responding laity believe the division is appropriate. Only 18 percent of responding pastors disagreed with the division.
• Only 29 percent of responding pastors believed the percentage forwarded to the SBC should increase, and only 11 percent believed that the percentage retained by the state should increase.

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I thought you might like this article I read at baptistdigest.com. "SBC Attitudes Toward Missions Giving" Some Southern Baptist leaders have recently stated in essence that, “Most Southern Baptists feel that at least 50 percent of our Cooperative Program dollars should be going overseas, should be going to international missions.” They must be drawing their conclusions that most Southern Baptists believe that 50 percent of CP dollars should go to international missions based on anecdotal evidence, because I have seen no facts to support the claim. If the facts are there, they have never surfaced for public scrutiny. You can read the rest here: http://www.baptistdigest.com/archive/article/sbc_attitudes_toward_missions_giving/