By HENRY DURAND, The Christian Index
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Southern Baptist leaders gathered Tuesday in Memphis to mark the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program and to reaffirm their commitment to working together in support of shared ministry. The event, led by Tony Wolfe, executive director of South Carolina Baptists, was held in the same city where messengers to the 1925 Southern Baptist Convention first approved the Cooperative Program exactly a century ago.
"The Cooperative Program perfectly illustrates what makes Southern Baptists unique — a people who love God and are committed to fulfilling the Great Commission through sacrifice and service. Their desire is not for personal recognition, but for Christ to be glorified and the nations to be reached," said W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
Seventy-three Southern Baptist pastors, national leaders, state convention executives, and representatives of various ethnic fellowships gathered to sign the historic document affirming faithful cooperation. The declaration expressed gratitude to local churches for their sustained generosity and applauded “all who promote, support, and renew their commitment to the Cooperative Program among our family of churches, mission boards, seminaries, entities, local Baptist associations, and state conventions.”
Caleb Turner, senior pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Texas, welcomed attendees by recalling the historic moment a century ago when messengers gathered in Memphis to adopt the unified funding strategy that would come to define Southern Baptist missions. Joined by Terry Dorsett, executive director of the Baptist Convention of New England, the two reflected on the courage and faith of those early leaders and the enduring spirit of cooperative sacrifice that continues today. Turner shared Paul’s words to the Corinthian church as a biblical picture of generosity and unity, while Dorsett led in prayer, giving thanks for the millions reached through the Cooperative Program and asking God to renew Southern Baptists’ passion to give, pray, and go with boldness into the next century.
Dr. Jeff Iorg, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, brought historical insight and contemporary challenge in his keynote address, reminding listeners that the Cooperative Program was born not in ease, but in adversity.
He detailed the early challenges that gave rise to the Cooperative Program — a denomination rocked by financial scandal, theological infighting, and public discord. And yet, he said, it was precisely in that turmoil that courageous leaders proposed a new model for funding missions and ministry: cooperation, not coercion.
“The Cooperative Program, while commonplace to us, was a never-before-attempted method of funding shared ministry and mission efforts,” Iorg said. “It was voluntary... based on serving others, requiring leaders to set aside individual recognition in lieu of shared success.” That spirit of unity, he declared, led to a century of fruitfulness unmatched in evangelical life.
Turning to the present day, Iorg drew parallels between 1925 and 2025, citing financial strain, denominational mistrust, and internal theological tensions. “But like our forefathers, we’ve come to a significant moment when we must lead forward,” he said. “My appeal today is to reaffirm our commitment to cooperation and the Cooperative Program in its simplest form — a shared funding mechanism to substantially provide for all our work.”
He challenged pastors specifically to embrace their role as educators and advocates. “Most Southern Baptists do not know much about this ingenious approach to missions and ministry funding,” Iorg said. “While state and national entities can provide resources, pastors are the trusted voices which must explain the Cooperative Program to people who make the important financial decisions in their churches.”
Iorg also called for renewed generosity, urging churches to adopt 10% giving to the Cooperative Program as a “gold standard.” He acknowledged the difficulty of the challenge but pointed to history as evidence that it can be met. “Some will scoff, claiming meeting this challenge is impossible. They said the same thing in 1925. Yet just as it was then, this sacrificial giving standard... must be the foundation for our future.”
Concluding his remarks, Iorg offered a stirring vision of what cooperation makes possible: “We have sent missionaries, started churches, strengthened congregations, trained seminary leaders, built hospitals, children’s homes, and colleges. Brothers and sisters, we stand today in awe of what God has done through a people who reject top-down control in favor of bottom-up cooperation.”
Several Southern Baptist leaders offered a series of heartfelt prayers, each focusing on a different aspect of the denomination’s shared mission. April Bunn, director of the IMB Prayer Office, gave thanks for God’s faithfulness and for the “beautiful feet” of those who brought her the gospel. She asked God to send out laborers from all walks of life and all corners of the country to reach the nations, praying that believers would remain steadfast in the work of missions, remembering that Christ is worthy of worship from every tribe and in every tongue.
Dr. Chuck Lawless of Southeastern Seminary led a prayer for Southern Baptist seminaries, colleges, and universities, thanking God for faithful pastors, teachers, and donors who make theological education possible. He asked for wisdom and integrity among faculty and administrators, strength and perseverance for students, and a fire for the gospel that would extend beyond the classroom into every nation. He also prayed that Baptist institutions would be global stewards of gospel training and that students would finish well, fully committed to Christ’s mission.
Carolyn Fountain, chair of the SBC Executive Committee’s events committee, prayed for the Executive Committee and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. She thanked God for the leaders He has appointed and asked for wisdom, compassion, and unity as they steward Cooperative Program resources. She emphasized the importance of focusing on the common good of sharing Jesus Christ and prayed that personal ambition or cultural differences would never hinder the spread of the gospel.
Bruno Molina, executive director of the National Hispanic Baptist Network, lifted up state conventions and their missions work. He prayed for everyone involved — from senior leaders to support staff — and asked that their service yield lasting spiritual fruit in the communities they serve. He called on God to raise up new laborers and inspire Southern Baptists to give generously in support of state-led ministry.
Hoon Im of GuideStone offered thanks for God’s work through Southern Baptists, praising Him for growing the Cooperative Program into a force for the gospel. He prayed for continued unity across all SBC ministries and institutions, that Southern Baptists would not rely on their own wisdom or resources, but be guided by the Spirit
Finally, Hershael York, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Seminary, prayed for SBC churches and pastors. He asked God to protect churches from inward thinking and complacency and to embolden them for gospel proclamation. He prayed that pastors would be men of courage, humility, and biblical conviction, and that churches would rise above distractions to focus on the lostness of the world and the urgency of the Great Commission.
In brief remarks preceding the ceremonial signing of the Declaration of Cooperation, Wolfe called attention to the significance of unity in a fractured world. “In a world that is deeply and desperately scarred by sin, many are the occasions for division and dissension, but rare and special are the moments that bring us together,” he said. Wolfe reminded those gathered that the Cooperative Program continues to stand as a testimony to the "voluntary spirit of Great Commission interdependence.”
He referenced the 1975 semicentennial celebration when 32 Southern Baptist leaders signed a similar declaration, affirming the CP as a symbol of denominational unity. Wolfe explained that the pulpit used during the event belonged to Monroe Elmon Dodd, the pastor who chaired the 1925 Future Program Commission that originally introduced the Cooperative Program for a vote. As leaders prepared to sign their own declaration, Wolfe expressed confidence that “God has chosen to multiply his favor upon the work of Southern Baptists through our cooperative program,” and prayed that such favor would continue in future generations.
In a closing prayer rooted in Revelation 7, IMB President Paul Chitwood called Southern Baptists to fix their eyes on the eternal gathering of believers from every nation, tribe, people, and language before the throne of God. He thanked the Lord for allowing Southern Baptists to be part of bringing that vision to reality through 180 years of cooperative missions and 100 years of faithful giving through the Cooperative Program. Chitwood prayed that in heaven, believers might recognize those present because of Southern Baptist efforts to send and support missionaries, preach the gospel, and reach the unreached. He closed by asking God to find this generation faithful in carrying the gospel forward and fulfilling the Great Commission.
As Southern Baptists look to the future, the message from Memphis is clear: cooperation still works, and the gospel must go forward.
Declaration of Cooperation
WHEREAS, Upon the semicentennial anniversary of the Cooperative Program 32 influential Southern Baptist leaders signed a “Declaration of Cooperation”* which expressed their affirmation of Southern Baptist Great Commission cooperation, their appreciation for the Cooperative Program, and their solidarity in continuing the work; and
WHEREAS, Jesus has given us, His followers, the Great Commission and empowered us by His Holy Spirit to accomplish its end (Matthew 28:18–20, Acts 1:8); and
WHEREAS, The biblical doctrine of cooperation compels us to work together and thereby effect a greater reward for our efforts (Ecclesiastes 4:9–12); and
WHEREAS, Upon the adoption of the Cooperative Program at the 1925 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, the Executive Committee declared that “the successes of the future depend upon the heroic spirit shown by our people at this time,” then urged the pledging of Southern Baptists “in the fullest support to the Cooperative Program as the best and most practical way of meeting our obligations and providing for the ongoing of all our enterprises”; and
WHEREAS, Since 1925 the Cooperative Program has provided a comprehensive funding mechanism for like-minded Baptist churches to support missions in all the world, all the time, at the same time; and
WHEREAS, As a result of Cooperative Program commitment and by the grace of God, our Baptist life has prospered in terms of unity, missions, and ministry throughout Baptist state conventions and Cooperative Program-funded national and international enterprises; and
WHEREAS, During these past 100 years Southern Baptists have deployed more than $20 billion through the Cooperative Program, demonstrating both the vast wealth God has entrusted to their stewardship and their willingness to sacrificially invest that wealth into Great Commission cooperation through Southern Baptist enterprises; and
WHEREAS, We have made a great commitment to our Southern Baptist missionaries, both at home and abroad, and to the ongoing work of our Southern Baptist entities and state conventions, all whose Great Commission efforts are supported and sustained through Cooperative Program giving; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That we, the undersigned, affirm the Cooperative Program as a missions-funding strategy God has blessed to support and strengthen Southern Baptist efforts to share the Gospel throughout the world; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we are grateful for Southern Baptist churches and individuals that give faithfully and sacrificially through the Cooperative Program; and be it finally
RESOLVED, That we commend all who promote, support, and renew their commitment to the Cooperative Program among our family of churches, mission boards, seminaries, entities, local Baptist associations, and state conventions.
*1975 Declaration of Cooperation: “Because we as Southern Baptists recognize That Christ established the church to carry out his divine purpose in the world, and That the genius of our life as autonomous New Testament churches is our freedom to cooperate in order to make evident our unity in Christ and to give substance to our common purpose to proclaim the gospel, and That our life as a denomination emerged historically in 1845 in an effort to elicit, combine, and direct those resources over which God has placed us as stewards, and That in 1925 our forebears committed themselves to a new level of interdependence in a relationship of stewardship called the Cooperative Program, and That as a result of that commitment our denominational life has by the grace of God prospered in terms of unity, missions, and ministry, We Hereby Declare this program of cooperation to be self-evident of our denominational unity and a manifestation of our vision for the future under the Lordship of Christ, and We Therefore recommit ourselves in prayer to that trust, sacrifice, and resolve necessary for the responsible expression of our life together in Christ through our Cooperative Program.”
The full event can be watched via Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/live/5qiXstrNfRM.
