At mid-year, BGCT giving holds true to projections

August 6, 2001

At mid-year, BGCT giving holds true to earlier projections
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___Receipts to the Baptist General Convention of Texas Cooperative Program through seven months remain true to first-quarter projections, according to Roger Hall, BGCT treasurer and chief financial officer.
___Through the end of July, Texas Baptist churches gave a total of $36,859,382 through the Cooperative Program, 6.7 percent below the anticipated giving goal and 14.7 percent behind the same period last year. That total includes giving to the BGCT budget and worldwide causes.
___Giving to the BGCT operating budget through the Cooperative Program totaled $24,459,079 through seven months, 11.8 percent below budget and 11.05 percent behind the same period last year.
___Hall anticipates gifts to the BGCT budget at year-end will be about 90 percent of the original budget approved for 2001.
___"Our pledge to churches is that we will continue to live within our resources," Hall said. "We expect to adjust next year's budget accordingly."
___Hall's first-quarter projections held true even in light of a one-month decline in giving in July. Total Cooperative Program gifts in July were 22 percent below the anticipated amount, and gifts to the BGCT were 23.6 below budget.
___Hall attributed the drop in giving primarily to three factors that historically have produced lower Cooperative Program receipts--a five-Sunday month, a mid-summer slump and a sluggish economy.
___Changing giving patterns by churches also impacted receipts, but Hall said that has stabilized in recent months.
___Of the total year-to-date Cooperative Program giving, churches gave 21 percent ($7.7 million) through the BGCT Adopted Budget, approved by messengers to the 2000 annual session in Corpus Christi. The Adopted Budget directs 72.32 percent to BGCT budget needs and 27.68 percent to worldwide causes, redirecting some funding from Southern Baptist Convention seminaries to ministerial education and mission causes in Texas.
___Churches gave 46 percent of the dollars received ($17.1 million) through the plan that divides gifts 67 percent to the BGCT budget and 33 percent to worldwide causes, the ratio in place prior to the 2001 adopted budget.
___Churches gave one-third of the total Cooperative Program dollars ($11.9 million) through the "other" giving option on the remittance form, excluding certain line items or adjusting percentages between the BGCT and worldwide causes.
___Year-to-date gifts to designated mission offerings are:
___ $1,336,111 to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions, 20.6 percent ahead of the same period last year.
___ $11,653,354 to the Lottie Moon Offering for International missions, down 3.3 percent.
___ $4,686,706 to the Annie Armstrong Offering for North American missions, down 10.9 percent.
___ $787,703 to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions, up 10.3 percent.
___ $424,196 to the Texas Baptist Offering for World Hunger, down 3.3 percent.
___While giving patterns for July have not been analyzed yet, as of June 30, close to one-third of the contributing churches directed at least some portion of their Cooperative Program contributions through the BGCT's Adopted Budget.
___Hall noted that some churches are now giving through more than one plan, and at mid-year 31 percent of the contributing churches were giving all or part of their Cooperative Program gifts through the Adopted Budget.
___While the presence of a competing state convention in Texas also impacts giving, Hall said the number of churches withdrawing from the BGCT remains relatively low.
___The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention website lists 859 affiliated churches, claiming 641 as "uniquely" aligned with the SBTC. However, only 180 churches have notified the BGCT that they no longer are affiliated with the historic state convention.
___The BGCT is not alone in posting declines in undesignated giving this year. Nationwide, gifts to the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program in July were 12.19 percent below the previous year.
___For its fiscal year to date, the SBC has posted a decrease of 1.8 percent over the same period last year.

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