NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program are 2.56 percent ahead of the same time frame in 2006, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman.

As of Aug. 31, the year-to-date total of $187,804,142.24 for Cooperative Program (CP) missions is $4,680,522.09 ahead of the $183,123,620.15 received at the same point in 2006. For the month, receipts of $15,662,488.27 were 0.91 percent, or $141,452.52, ahead of the $15,521,035.75 received in August 2006.

Designated giving of $200,033,834.69 for the same year-to-date period is 6.66 percent, or $12,481,620.64, above gifts of $187,552,214.05 received at this point last year. The $4,468,440.09 in designated gifts received last month is $303,428.14 below the $4,771,868.23 received in August 2006, a decrease of 6.36 percent.

For the SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget, the year-to-date total of $187,804,142.24 is 104.56 percent of the $179,619,387.34 budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America. The SBC operates on an Oct. 1-Sept. 30 fiscal year.

During the Southern Baptist Convention's last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2006, Cooperative Program gifts topped the $200-million mark for the first time, with the 2005-06 fiscal year's total of $200,601,536.29 marking a 2.37 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.

The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists' method of supporting missions and ministry efforts of state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention.

It is separate from the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Fund of which 100 percent of monies go to aid the needy in the general public.

The Cooperative Program total includes receipts from individuals, churches, state conventions and fellowships for distribution according to the 2005-06 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget.

Designated contributions include the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions, Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund and other special gifts.

State and regional conventions retain a portion of church contributions to the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program to support work in their respective areas and forward a percentage to Southern Baptist national and international causes. The percentage of distribution is at the discretion of each state or regional convention.

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