In an effort to promote increased giving to the Cooperative Program, the Florida Baptist Convention is kicking off a campaign to encourage churches to become Quarterback Churches. The idea is for churches to increase their CP gifts by .25% (1/4 of one percent) each year for the next four years, which when you do the math increases the church’s overall giving by 1% by the beginning of year four.
Increased CP giving is absolutely necessary if Florida Baptists are going to remain faithful to the mission to which we have been called. I hope that many of our churches will become Quarterback Churches and begin the process of increasing their CP gifts. Whether we like it or not, the Florida Baptist Convention must make changes in order to compete with other mission agencies for local church dollars. The more our churches invest in the CP, the easier it will be for these changes to occur. Quarterback Churches will be on the front line of helping our convention become a leader in mission and missionary efforts in our fields of receptivity.
In an effort to recognize increased giving among some churches, we forget that there are churches in our convention that have not wavered in their commitment to the Cooperative Program. They will never be Quarterback Churches because they have for the past ten to twenty years been Fullback Churches, churches that were willing to carry the ball into the trenches and stretch their ministry dollars in order to invest in a Cooperative Program that many had abandoned. The Quarterback Campaign is designed to move the average giving levels of churches from 6% to 7%, which will make an incredible difference. But Fullback Churches have consistently led this Convention with their gifts of 10-12% each year.
This year there will be churches recognized as Quarterback Churches because they increase their giving by 1% over the next four years, but their backstage, boardroom strategies that reduced their missions giving in the past will remain unnoticed. While I am grateful for the churches that will step up as Quarterback Churches, I want to make sure that the Fullback Churches know how much we appreciate them. I love the campaign idea and I hope the Florida Baptist Convention leverages these increases to maximize efficiency in its mission. Listing names on a website, and most likely in a newspaper article in the future, alienates those who have sacrificed for years in order to give to a cause that is bigger than any one particular church. In my estimation, these churches are already included in a list that will probably never be published, Fullback Churches. But then again, rarely does the fullback expect the attention.
Increased CP giving is absolutely necessary if Florida Baptists are going to remain faithful to the mission to which we have been called. I hope that many of our churches will become Quarterback Churches and begin the process of increasing their CP gifts. Whether we like it or not, the Florida Baptist Convention must make changes in order to compete with other mission agencies for local church dollars. The more our churches invest in the CP, the easier it will be for these changes to occur. Quarterback Churches will be on the front line of helping our convention become a leader in mission and missionary efforts in our fields of receptivity.
In an effort to recognize increased giving among some churches, we forget that there are churches in our convention that have not wavered in their commitment to the Cooperative Program. They will never be Quarterback Churches because they have for the past ten to twenty years been Fullback Churches, churches that were willing to carry the ball into the trenches and stretch their ministry dollars in order to invest in a Cooperative Program that many had abandoned. The Quarterback Campaign is designed to move the average giving levels of churches from 6% to 7%, which will make an incredible difference. But Fullback Churches have consistently led this Convention with their gifts of 10-12% each year.
This year there will be churches recognized as Quarterback Churches because they increase their giving by 1% over the next four years, but their backstage, boardroom strategies that reduced their missions giving in the past will remain unnoticed. While I am grateful for the churches that will step up as Quarterback Churches, I want to make sure that the Fullback Churches know how much we appreciate them. I love the campaign idea and I hope the Florida Baptist Convention leverages these increases to maximize efficiency in its mission. Listing names on a website, and most likely in a newspaper article in the future, alienates those who have sacrificed for years in order to give to a cause that is bigger than any one particular church. In my estimation, these churches are already included in a list that will probably never be published, Fullback Churches. But then again, rarely does the fullback expect the attention.
