Dig Deep for Lottie and the Cooperative Program
The budget crunch at the International Mission Board and other SBC agencies hit home for me a couple of weeks ago when one of our HBA pastors, who has already been approved to serve as a career IMB missionary, told me that he and his wife would not be deployed until mid-2011, simply because the IMB didn't have the funds to send them. There are a couple hundred more familes on the IMB waiting list just like them. Meanwhile, the IMB has said that it will need to reduce its missions force by several hundred people in order to cope with the downturn in giving.
The weak economy is only partly to blame for the problem. I heard at one of the state convention annual meetings that, on a percentage basis, the average for Cooperative Program giving by churches is a just little more than half of what it was 30 years ago. Gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering have not kept pace with inflation in recent decades. In effect, churches are dismantling the greatest missions funding mechanism (the Cooperative Program) and one of the most effective missionary agencies in Christian history, one penny, one percentage point at a time.
Early in my ministry, I became convinced that the Southern Baptist pattern of cooperative funding was the best way. As a pastor, I viewed giving to the Cooperative Program and the local association as the "tithe" of our church and always led our church to give at least a combined 10 percent to these areas. We constantly challenged our people to "give more than we did last year" to Lottie Moon. We NEVER cut our mission giving in order to free up more money for the church budget or for some church mission trip or project.
I am all in favor of local church hands-on Acts 1:8 missions engagement. That's a priority for HBA. But I don't believe that our IMB missionaries should have to pay for it. If we fund other missions agencies, trips, and projects, it should be 'over and above' our historic missions commitments. Somehow, some way we must convince our current generation of church leaders that cooperation is at the very core of being Southern Baptist. We must show them that dollars given to the association and the Cooperative Program have greater Kingdom impact than just about any other church budget item. Just as tithing has never made any Christian one cent poorer, giving to missions always benefits the local church (Phil. 4:17-19).
Overcoming Growth Barriers
Churches of different sizes do ministry differently. That's easy to see when you compare a church of 20 with a church of 2000. But it's also true when you compare a church of 70 with a church of 100. Churches tend to stall out and stop growing at certain attendance levels, typically around 35, 75, 125, 200, 500, and 1000 people in attendance. In order to overcome so-called "growth barriers" and grow, churches must change the way they do ministry.
At the February 8 Executive Board Meeting at FBC Cash, Rick Ballard will be presenting what he calls "Tier Training," which is a fascinating presentation of the specific things churches of any size must do to take their churches to the next level. Pastors, bring some of your leaders.
GPS Update
We're getting a good response from our churches on the GPS "Find It Here" evangelistic campaign. I am in the process of recruiting coordinators for every zip code in HBA. Our goal will be for the churches in every zip code to work together to deliver an evangelistic flyer to every home in their zip code before Easter 2010. Once again, if your church will help us saturate your community with the Gospel, email me at dom@argontech.net or call 903.454.2690.
Dare 2 Double Your Youth Workers
Your church will have an excellent opportunity to double the worker base in your student ministry by recruiting new workers and bringing them to the HBA Student Ministry Lab at Mathews Retreat on February 6. Dr. Johnnie Derouen of Southwestern Seminary will be offering a basic training in student ministry at this free event. Prepare now by rounding up enough parents or young adults to double the workers in your student ministry. Bring along your current workers, too. They'll get lots of inspiration and fresh ideas.
SRT: Silver Ring Thing
Also Feb. 6, at 6:30 p.m., several HBA churches are participating in the Silver Ring Thing, a sexual abstinence commitment event at TAMU-Commerce. Get your kids to this event! Contact Danny Fairweather at 903.366.6180 for information.
Click For Map
