2023 year-end report from Illinois churches
Illinois Baptist State Association
Boldly going
CP has been advancing the gospel for almost 100 years
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t the end of World War I, Southern Baptist veterans returned from Europe and described the devastating physical and spiritual needs they had left there. Southern Baptists responded at their 1919 convention by launching “The Baptist Seventy-five Million Campaign,” challenging members of every church to sign pledge cards and give sacrificially over a five-year period to meet the pressing spiritual and missional needs of the day. I still have my great-grandmother’s pledge card for twenty-five dollars, a sacrificial amount in that day for a farm wife whose house had recently burned to the ground, my mother tells me. Written across the pledge card, in in her own hand, are the words “paid in full,” two years early. Back then $75 million would be the equivalent of over $1.3 billion today. And while economic hard times hit the South in the 1920’s and the total collected through 1924 was “only” about $58 million, that amount given over five years amounted to about 90% of the entire amount Baptists had previously given over their first 74 years of existence since 1845. The Baptist Seventy-Five Million Campaign became a pilot and predecessor for the establishment of the Cooperative Program in 1925, which continues to prepare and place thousands of missionaries, pastors, church planters, and volunteers today. Both demonstrate what everyday Baptists and Baptist churches of all sizes can do when they choose to cooperate for bold missionary causes on a worldwide scale. It’s time for a big celebration. I know it may sound a little nerdy to some, or at least denominational. It may even sound self-serving, since the IBSA staff and I are paid through churches’ gifts through the Cooperative Program. But if you are a follower of Jesus who cares at all about his Great Commission, you too have countless reasons to celebrate the Cooperative Program and its worldwide, century-long impact. Throughout 2024, if it’s not been done already, I anticipate Baptist historians will attempt calculations of how many missionaries have been sent, how many nations and unreached people groups have been engaged, how many baptisms have been reported, how many churches have been planted, how many pastors and church leaders have been trained, how many volunteers have been mobilized, and many more spiritual results that can be tabulated over the past 100 years. So yes, it’s appropriate for all of us and for our churches to pray and plan how to celebrate what God has done through almost 100 years of cooperative missions. Leaning into this anniversary, let’s continue to boldly lead our churches to prioritize and give more sacrificially than ever. The Cooperative Program is the most effective missionary-sending system in modern history. And with missionaries around the world, with soundly equipped and resourced pastors and church planters leading our churches, and with Baptist volunteers eager to join them, we can continue to take the gospel to the world. Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.
Teach the children well As the Cooperative Program turns 100 in 2025, now is a good time to consider our plans for passing the baton. The generations that grew up with unified, systematic missions giving are aging and passing from the scene. The people coming into positions of leadership in many churches may not know as much about CP or the value of the commitment to missions giving that has united Southern Baptists across the decades. In many places, there is evidence of a return to the “societal method” of missions giving that was prevalent from
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the early 1700s until CP was created in 1925 to end the endless appeals for individual projects. Recently, earmarking funds for favorite missions and missionaries has returned in some congregations, often at the expense of CP giving. It’s time to teach the next generation the value of cooperative missions— again. Here are a few ideas for increasing awareness and encouraging commitment to missions through the Cooperative Program.
Highlight missions stories in worship services. “52 Sundays” is a series of short reports about SBC missionaries and their mission fields. The slides can be projected on screen in an announcement loop, and they can be printed in the bulletin or distributed separately. The impact of CP missions giving becomes real when the congregation meets the missionaries.
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Thank you.
Your church’s giving through the Cooperative Program is an investment in Next Generation ministries, helping churches make disciples and prepare leaders for tomorrow, and today.
Regular CP giving touches Illinois and the world – ALL YEAR ROUND. Illinois Baptist State Association
Observe CP Sunday during October (or anytime). Show church members where their CP giving goes with downloadable cards highlighting ministries they support through the Illinois Baptist State Association. Share testimonies from students who have attended IBSA camps, leaders trained at IBSA events, or people who have engaged with state missions.
Learn more at IBSA.org/CP
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Go digital. Go social. The IBSA website has a new CP page. At IBSA. org, look for the Cooperative Program tab at the top of the page. There are videos and downloads of all kinds to share the story online, social media, and at your church’s website. And SBC.net has a CP page too with a digital package with images and logos and elements for your use.
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Publish the chart. Make your church’s version by taking the annual CP offering amount and multiplying it by each of these percentages or contact IBSA and we’ll send you a custom report. The congregation will see how their giving supports a wide range of missions work. Show how offerings from almost 48,000 SBC churches add up to nearly $200 million in missions and ministry.
Plan a class. Tell our story. New members and young Baptists should know our story. Resources such as Meet Southern Baptists are available at SBC.net and IBSA.org.
Then, pass the plate — and the baton.