Support for CP should be platform for any SBC presidential candidate

By Jack Shaw, Member, Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, Business and Finance Subcommittee

Published May 31, 2006

If, as has been previously affirmed, the Cooperative Program is to be the funding future of the SBC, then unqualified support for the Cooperative Program by the convention’s elected leadership should be a litmus test for serving.

The opportunity for Cooperative Program focus is NOW!

Support for the Cooperative Program initiative must be the platform for any candidate offering to serve as president of the SBC if we expect to achieve our funding goals.

This should not be an either/or option. A pledge of loyalty to Cooperative Program giving must extend beyond “lip service” to a verifiable record. Our president can only challenge and lead by example.

As messengers, we must send a STRONG MESSAGE by our vote that our future rests in Cooperative Program giving.

I suggest the “bacon and egg” analogy as we consider who can best lead the SBC as president:

“The chicken makes a contribution, but the pig is committed.”

Funding our global outreach strategy is directly related to Cooperative Program giving. A unified commitment to biblically-based Cooperative Program giving could be the thrust enabling the SBC to fully fund SBC approved programs and alleviate the ongoing need for additional fundraising for selective ministries.

I suggest Frank Page is the person to lead us in this initiative. Frank is “committed.” As a leading SBC pastor, his church and mine is Taylors First Baptist Church. Taylors First is a leader in Cooperative Program giving.

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