The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee will reduce its own budget by $660,000 as part of a mandate to increase cooperative funding for the International Mission Board by 1%.
The commitment to make the IMB’s portion of the SBC Cooperative Program budget 51% was approved 15 years ago but never fully implemented. The Executive Committee voted in March this year to finally make that happen. (In reality, the current year’s CP allocation to the IMB is 50.41%)
The 2026-2027 fiscal year (beginning Oct. 1) Cooperative Program budget is $186 million. The IMB is slated to get $94.86 million of that amount, compared to the $93 million that would have been allocated in the old formula of 50% of the total. The differential of $1.86 million — or means a reduction from all other SBC-funded entities.
On top of that, the total CP budget for 2026-2027 is $1 million less than the current year.
The change in formula combined with the reduction in budget total means the total CP dollars going to the IMB in the next fiscal year will be less than a $600,000 increase over the current year. But the combined decrease to other SBC entities is significant.
The North American Mission Board will lose $500,000. The six SBC seminaries combined will lose $400,000. The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission will lose $35,000.
The biggest hit, though, is from the budget allocation to the Executive Committee, which is the central organizing body of the denomination and the entity responsible for the SBC annual meeting. The Executive Committee will take a 12% reduction in its CP income. Its $660,000 reduction is larger than the loss in funding for any other entity.
At this week’s Executive Committee meeting in Nashville, Tenn., Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg said his organization must concentrate on its “limited but essential function” as it refines its workload under a reduced budget.
“To balance our budget next year, we have reduced compensation and benefits. We have curtailed ministry efforts, increased fees for services, and implemented new efficiencies in several areas,” he said.
No information has been made public about the details of those reductions.
The Executive Committee website lists 22 current employees. The Executive Committee has been trying to sell its downtown Nashville headquarters building but thus far has not found a buyer.