“The Cooperative Program is what being a New Testament church is all about,” said David Shirley, pastor of Mountain Creek Baptist Church, Greenville. “Acts 2 talks about helping those in need. The better you work together, the more people you can help.
“We want to do our part, but the Cooperative Program doesn’t start with us and it doesn’t end with us. We’re just a part of it, a part of the way God is using Southern Baptists to reach out and touch people around the world.”
Frank Page, pastor of Taylors First Baptist Church and immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said, “We believe in the Cooperative Program. We maintain a threefold emphasis in mission ministry and send several groups each year all over the world, but we cannot go into all the places our Southern Baptist missionaries can go.
“When we give to the Cooperative Program, it makes us part of a greater work. Supporting the Cooperative Program is a serious intent to fund God’s command to go into all the world. We have to do this because God’s command is clear. It’s a matter of obedience. Obedience is a mark of maturity in a believer’s life. A church must exemplify obedience in order for church members to follow the example.
“We want to be a part of God’s global plan. The only way we can truly touch the world is by joining together with like-minded believers who can do a work we can never do alone. That’s the Cooperative Program.”