Panel highlights 100 years of Cooperative Program at GBC annual meeting opening

By HENRY DURAND, The Christian Index

Monday, November 10, 2025

ATLANTA — A panel of Georgia pastors addressed the opening inspiration service of the Georgia Baptist Convention annual meeting to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program. They also urged churches to keep their commitment to missions through the Southern Baptist shared funding channel.

Moderated by Ricky Powell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Blairsville, the panel included Matt Petty of Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in West Cobb, James Oney of Liberty Baptist Church in Fayetteville, and Bill Alderman of Pine Ridge Baptist Church in Brunswick. Powell noted that for the entire century the Cooperative Program has existed, his own church has given through it to “take the gospel to Georgia, to North America, and around the world.”

Petty said his church’s commitment is rooted in its own history. Burnt Hickory was planted in 1973 through the efforts of nearby churches and Georgia Baptists. “To whom much is given, much is expected,” he said, explaining that a church birthed through cooperation ought to help fuel cooperation for others. Oney added that the Cooperative Program simply lets churches do more together than they can do alone, especially in taking the gospel to more people.

Alderman said he tells people that Southern Baptists have “the best giving networks” because Cooperative Program dollars both protect doctrinal integrity through seminary training and send missionaries to places most churches will never go. He said it is imperative for churches of every size to stay in the network. Georgia has some 3,300 churches giving together, he said, which makes an impact no single church could make.

The pastors also pointed to tangible benefits their churches have received. Oney said he and many other pastors have been helped directly through seminary education underwritten by the Cooperative Program. Petty pointed to demographic studies made available through the convention that helped his church see exactly who lives in their community so they could “chase after them specifically.” Alderman said missions offerings such as Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong, and Mission Georgia give his people real stories of missionaries on the field and motivate them to live on mission in their own neighborhoods.

When Powell asked what they would tell a pastor who is hesitant to give or to increase giving, the panelists urged him to try it. Petty said churches ask members to tithe, so churches themselves should model generosity by giving through the Cooperative Program. He also said he believes the state convention has “a direct mission, a direct plan, and a level of trust” right now that should give pastors confidence. “Can I trust what’s happening? Emphatically, yes,” he said.

Powell closed by sharing that his own church was, that very night, voting to round Cooperative Program giving up to 12 percent of its budget, and that the congregation was excited to do it. He then led the convention in prayer, thanking God that for 100 years Southern Baptists have shown they are “better together” in carrying out the Great Commission.

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Video of the sessions and presentations during the annual meeting is avail

 

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Caption: From left, moderator Ricky Powell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Blairsville, Matt Petty of Burnt Hickory Baptist in West Cobb, James Oney of Liberty Baptist in Fayetteville, and Bill Alderman of Pine Ridge Baptist in Brunswick, participate in a panel discussion to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program, at a service to open the annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board on Sunday, Nov. 9, at First Baptist Atlanta. (Index/Henry Durand)