Cooperative Program giving from South Carolina Baptist churches bounced back in August, pushing receipts into positive territory for the fiscal year.
The August figures signaled a recovery from the previous month, when giving dipped below budgeted needs for the year.
August receipts were $2,513,539, and giving from churches through the first eight months of 2012 was $19,003,402, slightly above budgeted needs of $19 million, but $44,162 less than the amount received through the same period last year.
Even as CP gifts declined in July, SCBC executive director-treasurer Jim Austin expressed confidence that giving from churches would rebound, predicting that South Carolina Baptists would be “catching up in their giving as vacation season draws to a close.”
For a detailed report of giving from the churches, visit www.scbaptist.org/givingreports.
The 2012 SCBC budget, which runs from January through December, is $28.6 million.
Nationally, year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries are almost $175 million, or 2.63 percent, above the year-to-date budgeted goal, and 0.29 percent ahead of contributions received during the same time frame last year, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee president and chief executive officer Frank Page.
“This has not been an easy year for so many of our churches and state conventions,” Page said. “The economy continues to be sluggish. Unemployment rates rose in 44 states last month. Unemployment and underemployment continue to affect many faithful church members.
“Yet, in spite of these adversities, Southern Baptists continue to give obediently to support the missions and ministries of their churches, associations, state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention. For this we are grateful.”