The Revolution of the Southern Baptist World

1252 Words3 Pages

People sometimes ask, “Why should I have to give money to this project? I cannot possibly make that much of a difference.” The founder of the Cooperative Program, or the CP, thought differently. Since Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil,” how much more can one hundred people do? How much more can 16 million people do? Well, through the CP, an immense amount of success comes from its rich history, its concise system, and by its evidence of life-changing stories. Most importantly, the success of the CP cultivated a revolution in today’s world.

Based upon the explanation from tnbaptist.org, the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention, or the SBC, in 1845, caused an exponential growth in the rate of ministry. Each individual organization of the national and state conventions raised funds for missions through “countless special offerings, overlapping pledge campaigns, and frequent emergency appeals” (Rickman). Consequently, multiple agency representatives often found themselves eager to share their desires to raise money before a church congregation, thus donators funded towards a fund-raiser rather than to a ministry. For that reason, the SBC soon found itself in a seemingly insurmountable debt. In order to overcome this debt, the SBC launched the $75 Million Campaign, in 1919, a campaign that challenged Baptists to raise $75 million within five years. Southern Baptists pledged to raise $92.6 million during this campaign; however, they only donated $58.5 million due to “a financial depression that set in across the South soon after Victory Week” (Harris). As reported by Vanderbilt.edu, Victory Week is the week extending from November 30 to December 7 of 1919 in which c...

... middle of paper ...

...sionary Moments Planning Guide: January 2012.” Cooperative Program: Love in Action. Southern Baptist Convention, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

Rickman, Gary. "Cooperative Program." Tennessee Baptist Convention. Executive

Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

Smith, Andrew Christopher. "Fundamentalism and the Southern Baptist Convention,

1919-1925." Etd.library.vanderbilt.edu. N.p., May 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

Starnes, Todd. "A Godly Heritage: The History of the Cooperative Program."

Baptist2Baptist. Southern Baptist Convention, June 2000. Web. 29

Feb. 2012.

“What is the Cooperative Program?” Cooperative Program: Love in Action. Southern Baptist Convention, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

"2011-2012 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget." Cooperative Program: Love in

Action. Southern Baptist Convention, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

Open Document