Tim Lubinus, BCI Executive Director/Treasurer

By Tim Lubinus, BCI Executive Director/Treasurer

We are pleased to report another year of increases in Cooperative Program giving among Baptist Convention of Iowa Churches.

On behalf of the Baptist Convention of Iowa I want to thank you for your support of the various ministries through the Cooperative Program.

• As a state convention, our contributions are up 4.88% for the year ending June 30 from the prior year.

• Nine churches who gave $0 last year started giving this year! Eight additional churches gave more than 100% this year than last year!

• Fifteen churches gave more than $1000 more this year than last year.

• Fifty-five churches gave more this year than last, thirty-seven churches gave less this year than last.

You recall how the Cooperative Program works, the plan is for the BCI to use 40% of the funds given from churches for BCI’s church planting and church supporting ministries, donate 10% to the Iowa Ministry Fund, and send 50% on to the national SBC entities: the International Mission Board (IMB), North American Mission Board (NAMB), the six seminaries (e.g. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), the Ethics and Christian Liberty Commission (ERLC), and more.

The recent decision of the BCI to go mobile with staff and to sell the office building enables us to partner with and fund additional ministries. We’re trying to move the ministry outward, we want to be more available to serve churches and use our funding to reach the people of Iowa for Jesus Christ.

The Iowa Ministry fund is distributed to the top ministry operating in Iowa in each category as selected by our Foundation Committee:

• 1% Crisis pregnancy centers
• 1% Addiction recovery ministries
• 1% Ministries that support youth in crisis
• 1% Adoption/Orphan/Foster Care ministries
• 1% Ministries that provide emergency and transitional housing
• 1% Ministries that provide prison ministry and aftercare
• 1% Ministries that impact public policy
• 1% Disaster relief ministry
• 1% Ministries serving poverty impacted communities
• 1% Cross-cultural ministries

Many churches support a few ministry projects; giving through the Cooperative Program enables churches to give to ten of Iowa’s strongest ministries. Many churches help support a few missionaries; giving through the Cooperative Program enables churches to support nearly 4000 missionaries all over the world. Some churches even help support a church plant; giving through the Cooperative Program enables BCI churches to support seventeen church planting staff as well as one of the leading church planting organizations in North America.

Any contributions to the Cooperative Program in 2016 that are over our goal will be distributed 75% for the National SBC entities and 25% for BCI ministries. We are on track to reach our goal, with your help we can go over the goal and make a larger contribution to world missions.

In a few weeks we will offer some materials for use in promoting the Hyde Iowa Missions Offering to be collected in September.

We are grateful for the churches that began giving this year for the first time. We are asking them to consider giving regularly next year.

We are grateful for the churches that gave regularly this year. We are asking them to consider giving as a percentage of total donations.

We are grateful for the churches that gave as a percentage of total donations. We are asking them to consider giving more than the national average of 5.5%.

We are grateful for the churches that gave more than 5.5%. We ask them to consider giving even more generously next year.

As always, we are open to ideas and suggestions. Please write or call.

Let me know if you have additional thoughts or comments at TLubinus@BCIowa.org or direct message me through Twitter here!

Tim Lubinus
Executive Director
Baptist Convention of Iowa
(515) 408-0975