By Will Hall, Baptist Message Editor RICHMOND (LBM)—The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has released data showing relatively stable Cooperative Program giving but a flagging Lottie Moon Christmas Offering that is trending toward a record single-year fall. Comparing receipts from Oct. 2016 through March 2017 with totals for the same period a year ago, gifts through the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists’ primary channel for funding all national causes, are down less than one percent, or about $967,597 below last year. By contrast, contributions to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which benefits only the International Mission Board, Southern Baptists’ overseas-missionary-sending entity, have tumbled almost $13.5 million, a nearly 12 percent drop, for the same time frame. Importantly, these figures reflect only funds received through the SBC Executive Committee -- some LMCO gifts are donated directly to the IMB. Also, the accounting year for the LMCO is June 1 through May 31, but the difference with the SBC Executive Committee fiscal year does not change the negative trend in LMCO giving. According to past reports out of Nashville, March is the third month in a row for the special offering to … [Read more...]