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CP Up in December but KBC Ministry Cuts Necessary
02/01/2012
LOUISVILLE – Kentucky Baptists’ gifts to missions through the Cooperative Program rose in December but year-to-date totals are far behind budget, forcing Kentucky Baptist Convention staff to reduce the dollars they spend for services to churches.
Total gifts for December were $1,973,017, which exceeded the monthly workable budget goal of $1,876,900.
Despite that good news, CP giving for fiscal year 2011-12 is $442,101—or 5.89 percent—below the workable budget goal, according to Lowell Ashby, leader of the Kentucky Baptist Convention Business Services Team.
“In anticipating total CP receipts for the remainder of the year, we determined that an additional 3 percent cut was needed to the workable budget goal for CP,” Ashby said.
The total will be achieved by KBC’s ministry teams cutting 8 percent from their program budgets.
The additional reduction is on top of a mission board budget that was already $880,000 less than fiscal year 2010-11, Ashby noted, with about half of that reduction previously made to the program budget and half in reduced fixed costs.
The program budgets are the funds teams use to provide services to churches. They do not include fixed costs such as salaries or benefits.
“Warnings that the full impact of the economic downturn would continue to hurt offerings in the local church have proven true,” KBC Executive Director Paul Chitwood said. “At the KBC we will tighten our belt like everyone else and keep serving our Lord and His churches.
“We will also continue to plan for a reorganization that will ensure we are in line with our funding,” he added.
The current lag behind the budget goal, which messengers to the Kentucky Baptist Convention annual meeting vote upon every November, is indicative of a drop in Cooperative Program giving across the KBC and the Southern Baptist Convention at large, Ashby said.
Between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of Kentucky Baptist churches’ undesignated receipts supporting missions through the Cooperative Program has dropped from 9.2 percent to 6.9 percent.
“The good news is the mission board staff continues to embrace the many ministry and mission opportunities with effectiveness,” said Billy Compton, KBC’s executive associate for Cooperative Program and resources. “The periodic review of spendable budgets is a means for staff to determine ongoing stewardship priorities with Cooperative Program dollars.
“The investments made in CP will continue right into eternity,” Compton added.
Ashby said that Kentucky Baptists’ CP giving in January will exceed December’s positive report. The preliminary total of missions support through the Cooperative Program in January is $2.1 million.
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of nearly 2.400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. For more, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Dannha Prather, Marketing and Media Relations Associate
