Published Mar 21, 2023
Dear California Southern Baptist Family,
I am pleased to report that Cooperative Program giving in 2022 was stable. CP gifts in 2022 totaled $5,830,118, which effectively matched the 2021 CP Gifts of $5,836,903. This is an encouraging outcome for California Southern Baptists. Though we did not meet our CP objective of $6,000,000, it is worth noting that CP stabilized from 2021 to 2022 after years of decreasing annual CP receipts. While it is true that many other conventions nationwide have experienced increases in CP giving, CSBC did not continue our usual trajectory of experiencing an annual decrease. This news encourages me, and I hope it encourages you as well. The tide is changing, and California Southern Baptists can look to the future of a fruitful ministry done together in our great state.
This past year did result in an understandable operating deficit of approximately $250,000. This is largely due to falling short of the 2022 CP objective by $170,000 and also from several non-recurring expenses, such as the SBC Annual Meeting held in our home state in Anaheim.
Additionally, a CP trend I find encouraging is in our most recent four months. Giving has been outstanding. They are as follows:
- November 2022 – $540,000,
- December 2022 – $649,000,
- January 2023 – $476,000, and
- February 2023 – $524,000.
This is an amazing average of $547,000 per month, which is well above the monthly goal of $500,000.
Traditionally, year-end-giving often is strong; however, the average for the same period of the previous year was $520,000 per month. Are we beginning to see an increase in CP giving in California? Maybe.
I would ask that you pray with us for that to happen; for CP giving to continue to increase.
A word about the California Mission Offering
The California Mission Offering (CMO) had a strong giving year in 2022. With a goal of $400,000, CSBC received $397,513 in CMO. With more than 34,000,000 people in California who do not know Jesus, CMO provides resources through our CSBC Teams to our churches as they seek to reach their communities. Whether its planting churches, evangelism grants, revitalization consulting, or Disaster Relief, you can bet that your community has been blessed by the California Mission Offering. Please consider helping us reach and exceed our $400,000 CMO goal for 2023.
We are all aware that the ministry opportunities in California are seemingly endless, and as Southern Baptists, one of our greatest tools in reaching people for Jesus is giving generously and sacrificially to the Cooperative Program.
Truly, we are Better Together.
Marc Tempesta
CFO and Business Services Team Leader
Here is the California Southern Baptist Convention mission giving report for July through December 2022. The report includes all CSBC churches listed in alphabetical order by Association, city, and church. The report lists gifts to the Cooperative Program, California Mission Offering, and other designated gifts – Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, and world hunger.
Other reports available include the top 100 churches giving to the Cooperative Program and the top 25 churches giving to the California Mission Offering during the same time period.
The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists’ unified plan of giving through which churches give a percentage of their undesignated receipts to support their respective state convention and the Southern Baptist Convention missions and ministries.
The California Mission Offering is an emphasis to pray for, give to, and encourage mission action in California. Gifts to the offering to support evangelism, church planting, church matters, and mission ministries in the Golden State. The offering also supports other ministries such as Disaster Relief, migrant ministries, and associational missions. The reports available are: