[UPDATED]See below
When it was publicly announced that Dr. Ronnie Floyd would be a nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, I posted a chart detailing the Cooperative Program giving of First Baptist Church of Springdale, Arkansas, during Dr. Floyd’s tenure as their pastor.
In the interest of fairness, I now provide a similar chart for First Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina, during the tenure of their pastor, Dr. Frank Page. In a Baptist Press article today, Dr. Page confirmed that he will be nominated for president at the SBC annual meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina. This chart is somewhat shorter than that for Dr. Floyd, as each only details Cooperative Program giving during that pastor’s tenure.
|
Year |
Undesignated Receipts |
Cooperative Program |
Percentage |
|
2001 |
$2,975,030 |
$464,747 |
15.62% |
|
2002 |
$3,433,961 |
$535,649 |
15.60% |
|
2003 |
$3,600,839 |
$512,455 |
14.23% |
|
2004 |
$3,995,364 |
$536,961 |
13.44% |
|
2005 |
$4,297,861 |
$534,683 |
12.44% |
As with the previous chart, I offer no analysis, only data. All concerned Southern Baptists should continue in prayer for both of these men as we seek God’s direction in this decision.
[UPDATE]At the request of several of you, below is a chart that shows FBC Taylors giving to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering during Dr. Page’s tenure:
Year
AAEO
LMCO
2001
$33,099
$84,266
2002
$44,492
$44,956
2003
$42,017
$110,606
2004
$57,229
$162,387
2005
$62,726
$161,527
I have also added a similar chart to the post on FBC Springdale below.
on May 19th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
It looks like they budget a specific dollar amount of $535,000 instead of a percentage.
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on May 19th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Good work Wes!
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on May 19th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Brother Wes,
I’d imagine that the guys at the State Conventions and in Nashville are cheering us on while there are a few who might give us a dirty look if they recognize us at the convention. If the result is that folks notice that folks notice what they are giving and are shamed into giving more then good for the cp and the Kingdom Work it represents!
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on May 19th, 2006 at 11:26 pm
I had hoped for an alternative candidate that was 1) not always the center of controvery, 2) a strong supporter of the Cooperative program, 3) lacking the sacred annointing of the ruling elite. I hope that Frank is this man and he seems to be.
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on May 20th, 2006 at 7:10 am
Wes
Any idea what their Lottie Moon and AA gifts were?
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on May 20th, 2006 at 9:55 am
the first thought that popped into my head when seeing the chart….
if Page stayed at that church 20 years (like floyd), what percent would their CP giving be. Looks like a downward trend.
I am thankful for their support of CP, they are great improvement on Floyd’s %
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on May 20th, 2006 at 1:50 pm
Thanks for the added info. Even when you compare Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon offering for 2005, Frank is still the Great Cooperator.
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on May 20th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
Dear Brother Wes,
I’m with Flounder. Sure, 12% is great, but why have they allowed the % to slip steadily every year? If we looked at this chart next to Dr. Floyd’s chart for his first five years, they would look similar.
“I’m slowly reducing my church’s CP giving, but thankfully it’s not as low as Dr. Floyd’s yet, so I am more qualified to be SBC President.”
Love in Christ,
Jeff
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on May 20th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
I am confused. How many SB churches are there in the USA? And how many ACTIVE members? (for example, the SB church we attend has 700 members on the roll but only 350 active.
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on May 20th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
Jeff,
This was my subject in Riddle Me This, Batman! It’s a trend I’ve noticed in most of these charts I’ve done. Taylors’ average drop is a little over 1/2% per year. At this rate, in 25 years, they’ll be taking money out of the CP plate as it passes…
Anonymous,
There are over 40,000 churches in the US that call themselves Southern Baptist. As for active membership, it’s anybody’s guess. Officially, there are 16+ million members. The church you describe is typical (less that half participating), so figure something like 8 million.
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on May 20th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
^wes & anonymous, if it’s any help, according to the 2005 Annual Church Profile, SBC churches in 2005 had 6.5 million in primary church attendance. Of course, figured into that would be visitors, members of other churches, etc. That would mean that active attendance (involvement) is probably in the 5.5-6 million range. That still makes us the largest evangelical denomination in the US, but it certainly deflates our 16.5 million number. You can see the results for yourself by going here.
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on May 20th, 2006 at 10:44 pm
Hard facts beat a (semi)educated guess any day.
Thanks, Micah!
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on May 21st, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Micah
So, undesignated receipts were $7,842,000,000. Mission expenditures were $1,233,000,000 or about 14%! How much was the total CP, LMC and AA offering for 2005?
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