Happy New Year! I trust that each of you had a meaningful Christmas celebration, a great New Year, and some wonderful times with family.
I wanted to give you some encouraging information regarding 2016, even as we begin 2017. We don’t yet have all of the ACP (Annual Church Profile) reports from our churches, so we do not have total baptism and attendance information. We do, however, have information regarding cooperative mission giving and some of what we accomplished cooperatively. Regarding the Cooperative Program, income exceeded budget for the first time since the 1990s. We received $2,811,960 on a budget of $2,777,000, for a total of $34,960 over the budget. As exciting as this is, it is even more significant that we received $101,455 above giving in 2015, which is a 3.74 percent increase.
Other mission giving increased as well. The Lottie Moon International Missions Offering was $559,526, increasing from $495,843 over 2015. The Northwest Impact Offering was $103,611, increasing from $102,231. World Hunger Offering was $21,597, up from $20,338. The only offering that decreased was the Annie Armstrong Offering which was $244,297, down from $246,269 in 2015. In addition to these offerings, Northwest Baptists contributed an additional $14,548 through Disaster Relief. When you put all of this together, Northwest Baptists contributed $3,755,539 to missions through the cooperative means of the NWBC and the SBC. We have generous, mission-hearted churches and people in the Northwest!
The significance of our missions giving is quickly understood when you know that we currently have 66 new churches receiving monthly supplements. Also, more than 1,000 received in 2016, and will receive in 2017, pastoral leadership training, as well as evangelism, small group, VBS and other forms of training. It is particularly exciting to see growth in our collegiate campus ministry. At the end of 2016 we had Baptist Collegiate ministries on 13 campuses. This week, however, ministries were started on two new campuses with the plan to begin two more shortly! Though the NWBC participates in collegiate ministry through the CP, most of the work is done by volunteer/self-funded campus ministers who have a call from God to reach the next generation. We praise God for these men and women!
Additionally, our CLD training (Contextualized Leadership Development), in partnership with Gateway Seminary, is showing significant growth. We had one location last year (Portland), but we will have three locations this spring, adding Springfield and Longview, with East Wenatchee likely starting a center in the fall. Five students completed work during the fall 2016 term, receiving the Pastoral Ministries Certificate.
We are also planning on two East Asia vision trips in 2017, taking pastors to Japan and the Big Country so that their churches can connect with our IMB workers there. In 2016, about 250 Northwest Baptists, from dozens of churches, did mission work in East Asia, including 163 who ministered to 1,100 East Asia IMB personnel and their children last August. All of this is communicated to our churches via the outstanding publication of our bi-monthly Witness publication.
Additionally, enrollment at Gateway Seminary’s Pacific Northwest Campus showed a significant increase last fall, growing to 57 students from 46 the previous fall. And the work of the Northwest Baptist Foundation, the trust agency of the NWBC, has grown and prospered to the extent that they gifted the NWBC with a $25,000 check during our annual meeting in November 2016. Thank you!
I often say that it is a good day to serve the Lord, and it’s a good day to serve the Lord in the Northwest. I believe this to be true. It’s true because every day is a good day to serve our Lord. And it’s true because we have great people with whom to serve in the Northwest and God’s hand is evident in our work. Thank you for how you serve our Lord through your church, your community, and through the NWBC.