Southern Baptist Convention Reports Weak July Giving

July’s National Cooperative Program envelope came up light. Southern Baptists gave $14.0 million, nearly $1 million, or 6.6%, short of the $15 million earmarked for the month. The shortfall pushed the YTD tally to $155.2 million, now running a shade over $5 million, or 3.1 percent, behind the $160.3 million budgeted for the first ten months.

Designated giving followed suit. July’s $12.6 million lifted the cumulative total to $186.2 million, about $4.8 million behind last year’s running count—a drop of roughly 2.5 percent. However, in July, designated receipts were considerably stronger, 62.34% higher than last year’s July numbers, bringing year-to-date totals to within 3 percent of last year, when it would have been much worse.

All the figures arrive against the backdrop of the $190.3 million all-funds budget approved for 2024–2025, which already carves out a quarter-million for the high-profile SBC Vision 2025 initiative.

This is a sign that the 2025 Annual Southern Baptist Convention did not go well for the platform. Southern Baptists voted to allow the Cooperative Program budget to be allocated to fixing the Executive Committee’s disastrous leadership, which included waiving attorney attorney-client privilege. Moreover, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission was a divisive issue, which caused many churches to designate their giving so as not to fund liberal political activism.

These numbers perhaps played a role in Brent Leatherwood’s departure, but the discontent surrounding him was already sown through years of mismanagement.