MEMPHIS — As the Southern Baptist Convention celebrates 100 years of the Cooperative Program — the SBC’s giving channel for missions and ministry — a new book explores the future of this cooperative effort.
Chris Forbes, a longtime Southern Baptist marketing strategist and consultant, wrote “The Next Era of the Cooperative Program,” based on his doctoral research for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The book is set to release in June, Forbes noted.
Forbes, head of Forbes Nonprofit Strategies, said in a news release that the launch of the book is “strategically timed for the CP Centennial year and offers a foresight-informed roadmap for the future of cooperative missions funding.”
“What will that connection look like tomorrow?” he asks. “The future doesn’t arrive on its own. It’s shaped by decisions we make today.”
The book specifically spotlights “seven drivers” that Forbes’ research shows will shape the ministry landscape and what the Cooperative Program will look like in the years ahead.
Among those “drivers” addressed in the video are the following:
- Economic instability — Unpredictable financial pressures changing how churches budget
- Demographic shifts — Neighborhoods and congregations are transforming
- Technological evolution — Gathering now extends beyond physical spaces
- Educational revolution — How the Church trains leaders has fundamentally changed
- Spiritual malaise — Fewer people are connecting their giving to their spiritual growth
- Radical individualism — The “we” is increasingly replaced by “me”
- Institutional distrust — Confidence in larger systems continues to erode.
Team effort
With the help of a volunteer team of about 20 Southern Baptist leaders, Forbes considers what these “drivers” mean and how the Church should respond.
The team, called “The Future Commission 2050,” has “prayerfully mapped four possible futures, each shaped by how ministry leaders might respond to the challenges ahead,” Forbes noted. “The book presents seven long-range drivers of change, four plausible scenarios for Cooperative Program engagement through 2050, and a preferred future vision.”
Helping ministry leaders
“The book is focused on helping ministry leaders use these scenarios to navigate uncertainty, strengthen cooperation and shape the future of Southern Baptist signature missions resource pathway,” Forbes said.
He added, “Southern Baptists are facing a generational transition. The Cooperative Program was visionary in 1925. In 2025, it must be reimagined to serve a new century of churches, leaders and global mission priorities.”
To learn more, go to forbesstrategies.com. B&R
