A week ago, I started to answer the question “Why and how do Baptist Churches cooperate with one another?” I explained that at a regional level, Baptist churches have formed “associations” between like-minded churches, like the Palo Pinto Baptist Association (PPBA) here in our county.

I also mentioned that regional associations like ours have been undergoing a kind of identity crisis in recent years, and I asked you to pray for me and other local pastors as we lead through a transition in the PPBA.

Associations aren’t the only way we cooperate with other Baptist churches, however. Indian Creek is a “Southern Baptist” church, which means that we partner with thousands of other churches in connection with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at a national level (technically, the SBC ministers internationally, but its history is tied to the United States and most SBC congregations are located in our country).

Well, what does that mean? The SBC is like no other denomination of churches in the world. Strictly speaking, it only exists as a convention for two days out of every year, when messengers from SBC churches convene in the largest deliberative body in the world.

Occasionally, SBC pastors and leaders will say that “the local church is the headquarters of the SBC,” because each local church is autonomous and chooses to cooperate freely. No denominational figure has the authority to tell you who to hire as a pastor, what you ought to teach, how you ought to spend your money or what you ought to do with the church’s property. I love it!

The roots of the SBC go back to the early 19^th century, when missionary Adoniram Judson sailed for India (and later Burma) to share the gospel among those who had never heard of Jesus. Judson became a Baptist while traveling (long story), and his conversion would require Baptist churches back home to scramble and raise funds for his missionary efforts.

Judson’s friend Luther Rice worked hard to grow a network of support in the United States, and that network soon became the “Triennial Convention,” a gathering of church leaders that met every third year. The Triennial Convention gave birth to the SBC a generation later.

The point is that the reason why Baptist churches like ours began to cooperate on a national level was because they wanted to support missionaries. And that’s still the main benefit of partnering with the SBC.

The reason the SBC has thrived over the years is because of something called the Cooperative Program. The Cooperative Program is simply a funding mechanism. It’s a voluntary effort in which thousands of churches pool their resources under the conviction that “we can do more together than we can apart.”

Indian Creek takes a portion of our undesignated offerings and gives these funds to the Cooperative Program. Denominational officials—under the direction of SBC messengers from churches like ours—take those gifts and distributes them between various entities, such as our state convention (which I’ll talk about next week), the International Mission Board (which sends thousands of missionaries all around the globe to spread the gospel and plant churches), six Southern Baptist seminaries (such as Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth), the North American Mission Board (which helps plant churches), and several others. The percentage each entity receives is set year by year in the annual meeting of the Convention.

For 100 years, the Cooperative Program has fueled the cooperation of churches like ours in our efforts to fulfill the Great Commission. It’s a blessing to be able to have a small part in the work of each of these wonderful entities.

Of course, it hasn’t always been easy to cooperate together in as diverse a group as the SBC. Over the years, many large denominations have withered on the vine while others have fallen under the sway of false teachings. By God’s grace, the SBC has been able to avoid these types of downgrade.

Part of what has helped our church and many others to stay connected with the SBC is our confessional heritage. Baptists have always been a “confessing” people. That means that we have been willing to summarize our beliefs in concise statements supported by Scripture, while recognizing the true Christian brotherhood of those who may not fully agree.

Our doctrinal “confession” or Statement of Faith is called The Baptist Faith & Message, the most recent version of which was completed in 2000. Every SBC entity must embrace the BF&M (2000), and this gives confidence to churches like ours that when we send our money through the cooperative program or partner with an SBC seminary or entity that we’re cooperating with like-minded brothers.

Unfortunately, every generation faces new challenges. Recently, churches and leaders within the SBC orbit have begun to interpret certain parts of the BF&M (2000) in concerning ways. These are the issues that I’ll try to summarize next week.