NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) — Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program are 0.97 percent ahead of the same time frame in May 2007, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman.
As of May 31, the year-to-date total of $138,401,793.62 for Cooperative Program (CP) missions is $1,333,919.25 ahead of $137,067,874.37 received at the same point in 2007. For the month, receipts of $18,123,282.75 were 10.31 percent, or $1,694,174.44, ahead of the $16,429,108.31 received in May 2007.
Designated giving of $170,581,420.82 for the same year-to-date period is 5.68 percent, or $9,164,600.36, ahead of gifts of $161,416,820.46 received at this point last year. The $28,204,584.33 in designated gifts received last month is $9,902,388.62 ahead of the $18,302,195.71 received in May 2007, an increase of 54.10 percent.
For the SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget, the year-to-date total of $138,401,793.62 is 103.49 percent of the $133,734,357.53 budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America. The SBC operates on an Oct. 1-Sept. 30 fiscal year.
During the last fiscal year Southern Baptists surpassed for the first time the $400 million mark in combined Cooperative Program and designated giving. Gifts through the Cooperative Program by SBC churches reached $205.7 million during the fiscal year spanning Oct. 1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2007, while designated gifts, including the SBC's missions offerings, topped $204.9 million. CP gifts increased 2.55 percent during the year while designated gifts increased 7.09 percent.