April 28, 2025
SUWANEE, Ga. — As Southern Baptists prepare to celebrate this 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program next month, the Georgia Baptist Mission Board reported that 2024 CP giving by Georgia churches rose slightly over the previous year, bucking the national trend.
According to the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, 2024 giving through the Cooperative Program grew by 0.13% over 2023, reaching $35.4 million—a modest but meaningful increase.
W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said, “The cooperative program is by far the greatest way to fund global evangelism. Every church doing their part by reaching their local mission field, while providing resources to send others to the unreached places around the world. This is a practical and effective way every Georgia Baptist can be involved in fulfilling the Great Commission!”
Nationally, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee reported CP giving at $191.2 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, reflecting a fractional decline of 0.003%.
The Cooperative Program, now entering its second century, continues to be the Southern Baptist Convention’s unified plan for funding missions at home and abroad. Through cooperative giving, churches generously work together to accomplish the Great Commission, investing in ministries from disaster relief and theological education to international evangelism and church planting across North America.
Among those ministries are international and domestic missions. In 2024, Georgia Baptists directed $16.8 million of their CP giving to the International Mission Board, aiding the work of more than 3,500 missionaries around the globe. Of those, nearly 300 call Georgia home. These missionaries are often stationed in some of the most spiritually and physically difficult regions, proclaiming the gospel where Christ is least known.
Their efforts bore fruit last year. IMB reported that more than 1.6 million people heard the message of salvation through Southern Baptist missionaries. Of those, nearly 145,000 made decisions to follow Christ, and over 68,000 were baptized.
But the task remains urgent. IMB leaders point out that while these are encouraging numbers, they remain a small fraction compared to the estimated 166,000 people who die every day without knowing Christ.
Closer to home, the North American Mission Board received nearly $9.5 million from the Georgia Baptist Mission Board in 2024. That money fuels efforts in evangelism, compassion ministries, and church planting across the United States and Canada.
Since 2010, Southern Baptists have planted more than 10,000 churches, and NAMB’s most recent annual report shows support for more than 6,500 missionaries and chaplains working in prisons, hospitals, the military, and underserved communities. And, in 2024, the GBMB and NAMB announced a new partnership, Send Network Georgia, with the specific aim of planting more churches in Georgia.
In Georgia, Cooperative Program giving helps to fund efforts by the GBMB to equip and strengthen churches, and support and care for pastors. Last year, a record number of Georgia Baptists attended the Spark church-strengthening conferences. More than 3750 people showed up to receive training and encouragement to strengthen their churches and ministries.
“The Cooperative Program is the fuel that makes it possible for every church to strengthen one another. We see the sharing of resources in the book of Acts as churches would rise up to share with other churches to strengthen them in order for the Kingdom to expand," said Mark Marshall, the GBMB's senior lead strategist for church strengthening. "In the same way, the CP makes it possible to provide resources and consultants across Georgia to strengthen ministries for the sake of the gospel.”
When it comes to reaching young people, the GBMB funds Baptist Collegiate Ministries on 40 campuses across the state. During the 2023-2024 school year, 2400 students were involved in BCM, with 185 making salvation decisions and 124 planning to pursue vocational ministry after they graduate.
Georgia Baptists are also reaching middle school and high school students through camps, with nearly 4,000 young people attending last year, leading to 276 calls to ministry and 432 salvation decisions.
As Georgia Baptists prepare to reflect on 100 years of shared sacrifice and gospel partnership through the Cooperative Program, their steady commitment stands as both a testimony to their faith and a challenge to others.
“There is so much to celebrate in Georgia Baptist life,” said Hammond. “God is blessing the faithfulness of His people. While we have come so far, there is still much more to be done.”
