The Baptist General Convention of Texas has experienced a 17% drop in Cooperative Program income in the past decade, Treasurer and CFO Ward Hayes told the state convention’s Executive Board Feb. 23.
Earlier in that meeting, BGCT Executive Director Julio Guarneri said Cooperative Program receipts had been declining for 25 years, while nationwide giving to the Southern Baptist Convention has been declining for 35 years.
BGCT Executive Director Julio Guarneri (Texas Baptists photo / Neil Williams)
According to reporting by the Baptist Standard, Guarneri said churches are sending fewer Cooperative Program dollars to the BGCT and SBC as their receipts decline and needs and costs increase. Inflation also has reduced the buying power of churches and denominations, he added.
That was echoed by Hayes, who said what $100 could buy in 2015 took $135 in 2025.
The Standard said Hayes reported Cooperative Program giving through the BGCT in 2025 was 97.2% of the prior year’s receipts, or down about $721,000. The shortfall in giving was partially offset by expenses being about $699,000 under budget.
Giving to special mission offerings — Mary Hill Davis, Annie Armstrong, Lottie Moon and Texas Baptist Hunger Offering — also declined in 2025.
The total decline in state Cooperative Program receipts since 2015 was $5 million or 17%.
Because of declining offerings, endowment earnings have become increasingly important to funding the BGCT’s ministries, Hayes said. In 2015, endowment income accounted for 7% to 8% of annual revenue. By 2025, endowment income made up 23% of revenue.
BNG previously reported that over the past dozen years, the amount of money entering the Cooperative Program pipeline at the state level — and later making its way to the national denomination — has dropped from $487.9 million in 2010-2011 to $449.2 million in 2022-23.
Put another way, Baptist Press reported: In 2003-04, CP giving from churches through their state conventions totaled $499.9 million. A decade later, it had dropped to $478.7 million. For 2023-24, total CP giving through the states declined further to $446.6 million.