http://sbcplodder.blogspot.com/2014/03/ ... ogram.htmlWilliam and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, mostly political. But when it comes to all things SBC, his evaluations and observations are usually right on target, and they are honest when it comes to problems and issues. I thought this was a particularly good post related to the CP.
Denominations have done an excellent job of building in business models to their operations systems. When it comes to handling money and organizing a budget, that can be a good thing, though practical business considerations are not always the desired "product" of an organization that works with churches that have functions related to worship, discipleship, evangelism and missions, ministry and Christian fellowship.
Churches seem to be slow to accept the reality of paradigm shifts that affect their function, and slow to accept the kind of change that needs to occur within in order to adjust the scope of their ministry to deal with it. There are some realities that have had an effect on the Cooperative Program giving in recent years. The drops in giving are alarming, since growth and increases were the pattern for a period of more than 50 years. On the denominational level, there are people who have seen this coming, and have issued warnings about it (Ed Stetzer, for example, Thom Rainer for another). But the response from the churches has been slow, because they don't have the same level of awareness. Basically, I see three main reasons behind the decline in CP giving:
1. The SBC's overall statistics are still predominantly affected by what happens in the South, where the bulk of its churches are located. I have referred to it as "Dixieland plus Oklahoma" which made some of my seminary buddies from Mississippi, Alabama and Jawjuh give me dirty looks. Most of the churches in this part of the country have celebrated 75 or more anniversaries, are established, traditional, and as a result, are aging and declining. The 15-20% of younger members who stay with the church past college are mostly collecting in mega churches, where 90% of the congregation consumes the church's resources. These churches still do things pretty much the way they always have, and are not equipped to handle the philosophical battle that is being waged which pulls people in a different direction. The generation that is part of the 80% who give most of the church's money (which supports a large number of full time staff members who do the church's work) is now in its 60's, 70's and 80's, and in 20 years, most of the big money will be gone.
2. The mega churches are a contributing factor to the problem. Most of them consume financial resources like a brush fire. Facilities that have theatrical quality stages, acoustics, lighting, and sound systems, praise bands and musicians who work at union rates, and all the bells and whistles that go with the "look and feel" of a weekly worship experience consume vast quantities of cash, which goes to a "come and sit and listen" approach, instead of to missions and evangelism. When we got into the realm of undisclosed pastor and staff salaries, the cash amounts required to pay church professionals skyrocketed. Exotic vacations that masquerade as mission trips consume fortunes. And the debt load on 2,500 and 5,000+ seat auditoriums is staggering, along with the health and fitness clubs that are called "family life centers." The end result is that the mega churches do not support the CP at a gift-per-member capita that has been the norm for most churches in the past. William's argument, that percentages don't pay bills, dollars do, is no longer applicable when a congregation of 500 gives more actual dollars, at 8% of their undesignated giving, than a church of 2,500 which gives 1%, or less. Churches see that the prominent, well known church gives 1%, and they imitate that.
3. Missions education in SBC churches has almost disappeared. I learned all about the Cooperative Program, mission boards, seminaries, commissions and state convention institutions from Sunbeams, RA's, and Pioneers, and then from a co-ed missions workshop in my home church when we combined the Acteens and Pioneers group. That has stayed with me all of my life, and even though I am a member of a church of a different denomination, which I support with my tithe, my extra giving still goes to CP related ministries, as does a big chunk of my volunteer time. I don't see that in younger generations, they don't even know what the CP is.