8 | October 2025
through the Cooperative Program,” Smalley said. The SBC has approximately 47,000 churches, and the average SBC church has 60-70 members. But something special happens when the CP gifts from all SBC church- es come together. “We’re the largest missionary Protestant force in the history of the world. And so if we’re going to reach all the nations, we can’t do that alone. We have to do that working together with like-minded believers, like-minded churches, and the Cooperative Program, I think, provides a wonderful mechanism for us to do that through South- ern Baptists. “When you give, you’re helping even yourself. You’re helping your church. And you help other churches to be planted. You help the missions. You help the missionaries to be in the field and planting without any fear,” Safadi said. “When you give, you give for multiplication.” CP Impacts IMB Work In the West Region, retired IMB Missionaries Jeff and Barbara Singerman, First Baptist Church, Kettering, have first-hand knowledge of how the Cooperative Program impacts missionaries on the field. “We had a place to stay, we had a car. We were able to minister to others. You know, missions is not cheap,” Jeff Singerman said. “And then, as churches are growing, we need to train leaders. We need to disciple folks, and the Cooperative Program, along with the Lottie Moon Christ- mas offering, gives us the ability to stay there without having the burden of trying to knock on people’s doors and write support letters. You can focus towards the mis- sion. You can do the work.” CP Impacts Ohio Baptists - Together In the Central RegionDean Fulks has been the lead pas- tor at Lifepoint Church, Lewis Center, since its beginning in 2004. Today, Lifepoint Church is one church with six campuses: Lewis Center, Delaware, Marion, Plain City, Westerville, and Worthington. He was introduced to the Cooperative Program as a student at Ohio State Univer- sity. “So I distinctly remember going to that membership class at Lane Avenue, and them talking about the Cooperative Program, and saying, ‘You know what, our missionaries never have to leave the field.’ Now, they leave to come home for furlough every however many years, but they never have to leave the field, because all of our churches cooperate together. I’ve always thought the genius of the Cooperative Program is ‘together.’” Missed an Episode? If you missed an episode in our CP100 series you can find the entire series at http://scbo.org/cp100.
For the past six months, SCBO has been cele- brating the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program with “CP100,” a series of interviews high- lighting the impact of the Cooperative Program on churches and individuals in each of Ohio’s six re- gions. The final episode of CP100 takes place in Ohio’s Central Region. Dean Fulks has been the lead pastor at Lifepoint Church, Lewis Center, since its beginning in 2004. Today, Lifepoint Church is one church with six cam- puses: Lewis Center, Delaware, Marion, Plain City, Westerville, and Worthington. He was introduced to the Cooperative Program as a student at Ohio State University. “So I distinctly remember going to that member- ship class at Lane Avenue, and them talking about the Cooperative Program, and saying, ‘You know what, our missionaries never have to leave the field.’ Now, they leave to come home for furlough every however many years, but they never have to leave the field, because all of our churches cooper - ate together. I’ve always thought the genius of the Cooperative Program is ‘together.’” Don’t miss CP100 – Episode Six: Pastor Dean Fulks, Lifepoint Church, Lewis Center. Celebrating the Cooperative Program: CP100 – Episode Six: Pastor Dean Fulks, Lifepoint Church, Lewis Center
Made with FlippingBook Converter PDF to HTML5