BradHoffmann.com

Did you know the Baptist General Association of Virginia reported total church receipts in 2014 of $255,990,116 among member churches? Did you know gifts through Cooperative Missions totaled $11,277,493 with a Virginia portion of $7,652,485? That’s a Cooperative Missions percentage of 4.4%.

I’m going to be bold and honest with you. With receipts over a quarter of a billion dollars, we can do better than 4.4%. While I applaud the generosity of partnering congregations, I know we can do better than 4.4%. Do you know your congregation’s percentage? Just one percent more collectively would gain over $2,500,000 annually.

We can not continue to rollback (a term coined by Walmart) generosity and expect to take new ground missionally. The need to plant, develop and send is too great in Virginia. This is the time for everyone to step up to the plate.

I pastor a church which gives approximately 12% through Cooperative and Associational Missions based on general budget receipts. In addition, we participate in major national, state and associational special offerings. Some might comment we have a lot of excess funds because we’re a larger growing congregation. Don’t fool yourself. Our reality is just the opposite. Cool Spring is a generous church, but growing congregations experience unusual financial challenges. To be very transparent here, there are many more places we could put these funds to use and don’t think we don’t talk about it sometimes. But, we believe in and remain committed to the work of Cooperative Missions among Baptists.

I want to challenge partnering BGAV churches to raise their investment level in the mission. If your church is giving less than four percent through Cooperative Missions, challenge your church to do more. It might be tough, but it is worth it. We’re in this together. Don’t sit on the sidelines, be a stakeholder. Live the mission and be a part of something bigger than yourself. Generosity makes a difference.