Panel discusses role of Cooperative Program during Southwestern Founder’s Day chapel
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program and the seminary’s role in its beginning during a Founder’s Day chapel service March 13 on the Fort Worth campus.
Southwestern Seminary President David S. Dockery noted the event usually involves an address about one of the early leaders of the seminary. However, he said, “we’re tying today’s Founder’s Day together with an important event in the life of Southern Baptists as a whole, in that 100 years ago … the Cooperative Program was birthed, and God has used that to advance the Gospel, to strengthen the work of Southern Baptists through the years.”
This year’s event featured a panel discussion with Nathan Lorick, executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention; Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director of the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU); Madison Grace, provost and vice president for academic administration at Southwestern Seminary; James Spivey, church historian and pastor of Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas; and Andy Pettigrew, director of NextGen Mobilization for the International Mission Board (IMB).
Dockery asked Grace to define the Cooperative Program, noting that he is a co-editor of a forthcoming book, A Unity of Purpose: 100 Years of the SBC Cooperative Program. Grace explained that Baptists previously had multiple organizations that would go to churches and ask for donations for missions. They realized they were “spending a lot of money trying to raise money,” he said, and began looking for a better way.
In 1919, Southwestern Seminary’s second president, L. R. Scarborough, led a five-year campaign to raise $75 million to fund Baptist mission and ministry efforts. That effort fell short of its goal, and in 1925, “there was a reassessment of it, and the Cooperative Program was birthed,” he said.
Grace said the Cooperative Program is more than a funding mechanism.
“This is a way to unify us as Southern Baptists in that one sacred effort that we are engaging in for Kingdom advance,” he said.
A panel of notable Southern Baptists discussed the origins and impact of the Cooperative Program during the Founder’s Day chapel.
Dockery noted that B. H. Carroll, Southwestern Seminary’s founder and first president, always is a part of Founder’s Day discussions. Dockery asked Spivey to discuss how Carroll’s commitment to Christian unity shaped the work of the Cooperative Program and the seminary’s role in that.
Spivey described Carroll as a “unifier.” There were four Southern Baptist state conventions in Texas at that time, but at the end of the 19th century, Carroll took the initiative to bring them together and create “a unified convention of Southern Baptists: the Baptist General Convention of Texas.” He noted that George W. Truett led the commission that put together the “Seventy-five Million Campaign, and J. B. Gambrell was president of the convention when the campaign was formed. [The Cooperative Program] was Texas-born in the hearts of those three men – Truett, and then Gambrell, and Scarborough. They stood in the shadow of Carroll.”
Grace said that in teaching classes on Baptist heritage, they also talk about what the Cooperative Program is doing today. He said Cooperative Program funding goes to such programs as the IMB, the North American Mission Board, and to Southwestern Seminary, among other entities.
“I think it’s important for us to understand that the number one scholarship at Southwestern Seminary comes from the Cooperative Program,” he said.
Wisdom-Martin noted that the WMU was committed to the Seventy-five Million Campaign, agreeing to fund $15 million of the campaign amount. “And I do think WMU was the only one who met their $15 million goal. Just gonna put that in” she said, drawing laughter from the audience.
Lorick said churches can be thankful for the 100-year history of the Cooperative Program, “but we can’t be giving answers to questions that are no longer being asked.” A previous generation never questioned the need to give, but a different generation today is asking why they should give. He said he speaks to churches on the value of giving, noting that they may be in Fort Worth, but through the Cooperative Program, they’re ministering in Africa, Europe, Israel – anywhere missionaries are sent.
Pettigrew said he personally benefited from the Cooperative Program.
“So many things that I have done throughout my journey, … more than 25 years, just being as a result of the Cooperative Program, being able to go to school and so many different things that I’ve done, and obviously being a missionary … for 13 years,” he said, adding he feels indebted to the Cooperative Program.
“I’m grateful to you for giving, and I hope you recognize the role that you play in giving,” he added.
Near the end of the chapel service, Dean Sieberhagen, interim dean of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, voiced a prayer for students participating in the Thailand mission trip and Revive the Nation endeavors during the spring reading days, March 17-21.
Following the Founder’s Day chapel, a luncheon was held to honor the recipients of the 2025 B. H. Carroll and L. R. Scarborough awards.
