Dozens of pastors, SBC officers, state Baptist convention leaders, SBC ethnic leaders and others gathered to commemorate Southern Baptists’ adoption of the Cooperative Program 100 years ago in Memphis. Photo by Jim Veneman.
By Craig Webb
I was recently blessed to participate in a significant gathering in Memphis, Tennessee, on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, marking the 100th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program. The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists’ unified plan of giving, through which cooperating Southern Baptist churches give a percentage of their undesignated receipts in support of their respective state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention’s missions and ministries.
The gathering took place about 100 yards from the location where the messengers to the 1925 SBC annual meeting first approved the Cooperative Program, exactly 100 years to the day. This Centennial Celebration, led by Dr. Tony Wolfe, executive director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, brought together Southern Baptist pastors, entity leaders, state convention executives, and representatives from various ethnic fellowships. We all were there to reaffirm our commitment to working together in support of our shared ministry and the Great Commission.
Craig Webb, executive director-treasurer of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, signs the Declaration of Cooperation during the Cooperative Program Centennial Celebration in Memphis on May 13, 2025, joining 72 other Southern Baptist leaders in reaffirming commitment to unified missions giving.
I was honored to be among the 73 leaders who signed a Declaration of Cooperation. The declaration affirms the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program as a vital strategy for funding missions and ministry globally, emphasizing its historical significance over the past hundred years as a means for churches to work together in fulfilling the Great Commission. The bottom line was that those of us who signed the document were stating that we are committed to promoting the Cooperative Program and that we view it as a clear expression of our shared purpose under Christ.
This Declaration of Cooperation will be sent to the Resolutions Committee for consideration by messengers at the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas. If passed, it will be made available online for any Southern Baptist to sign digitally.
Dr. Jeff Iorg, president of the SBC Executive Committee, gave the keynote address during the celebration. Dr. Iorg drew powerful parallels between 2025 and the political upheaval, economic uncertainty, denominational mistrust, and internal theological tensions faced in 1925. He reminded us that the Cooperative Program was born in a time of adversity. He shared that in 1925, the Cooperative Program was a “never-before-attempted method of funding shared ministry and mission efforts.” He ended his keynote remarking, “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.”
Dr. Iorg also challenged pastors to educate about and advocate for the Cooperative Program. He noted that many Southern Baptists are unfamiliar with the ingenious approach of the Cooperative Program and stressed that pastors are the trusted voices who must explain it to those making financial decisions in churches. He urged churches to adopt 10% giving to the Cooperative Program as a “gold standard.” He acknowledged the difficulty, but pointed to history as proof that it is possible.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. Tony Wolfe shared that the pulpit used during the ceremony for prayers, messages, and the signing of the declaration, originally belonged to Pastor M.E. Dodd, seen as the “father” of the Cooperative Program. Dodd chaired the 1925 Future Program Commission.
Being present at this centennial celebration deepened my appreciation for the Cooperative Program's genius and reinforced my commitment to its future. For Hawaii Pacific Baptists—spread across multiple islands and countries—cooperation isn’t optional; it’s essential. Our theme of “contending together” from Philippians 1:27 perfectly captures what Southern Baptists have been doing through the Cooperative Program for 100 years. As we look toward the next hundred years, I’m excited to champion this funding mechanism that has enabled our smallest churches to participate in global mission work.
Together, let’s continue to send, start, strengthen, train, and build for God’s glory across the Pacific and beyond.