By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
[email protected]
In a new Cooperative Program video entitled, “It’s a Wonderful CP” Mr. Finch, left, takes a trip in his dreams, and discovers that a world without the Cooperative Program “is a nightmare.”
FRANKLIN — Everyone knows the story told in “The Christmas Carol” about an elderly man named Scrooge who thought Christmas was a waste of time and money.
Now, thanks to the creative talents of Matt Tullos, assistant to the executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and Cooperative Program/stewardship specialist, Tennessee Baptists have the opportunity to meet Mr. Finch (just happens to rhyme with another old Christmas curmudgeon named Grinch) through a new video entitled, It’s a Wonderful CP.
Mr. Finch also can be closely compared to George Bailey of the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Tullos said. “The idea actually came out of a conversation I had with Chris Liebrum, vice president of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, last spring, about the classic movie which starred Jimmy Stewart,” he noted.
“There are many George Baileys in our churches who will never know the impact of their giving through their church and, in turn, through the Cooperative Program,” he pointed out.
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“We are hoping that this lighthearted approach will appeal to the next generation, many of whom are difficult to reach in normal promotional pieces. We will be sharing this video on all our social media channels and we’d love for you to download and post it,” Tullos said.
Mr. Finch is a member of his local church’s finance committee and probably is not that far-fetched of a character. During a committee meeting, he questions why the church gives so much through the Cooperative Program when it could be using the money for things needed in their local church “like providing child care for committee meetings.”
The committee listened to Mr. Finch’s concerns, but “the meeting ended in a stalemate — each member wondering whether their church would be giving through the Cooperative Program as a priority anymore.”
Mr. Finch goes home and goes to bed. He ends up having a dream not unlike old Mr. Scrooge and a “not a ghost or a missionary but a guy who just somehow entered your dream” helps him see a world without the Cooperative Program. The first thing he sees is his pastor selling electronics. Without the Cooperative Program he could not afford seminary so he gave up and became a salesman. Mr. Finch learns that because Pastor Kirk never became the church’s pastor, the church did not grow and had to eventually close its doors.
He also learned other ministries such as disaster relief, evangelism, compassion ministries and other ministries in Tennessee ceased to exist without the Cooperative Program as did 3,500 missionaries around the world.
Mr. Finch finally gets the message that life without the Cooperative Program “is a nightmare.”
Tullos is hopeful that the video, which was done in-house at a nominal expense, will create an increased awareness of the importance of the Cooperative Program.
Chris Turner, director of communications for the TBMB and a former International Mission Board missionary, said it is one of the best Cooperative Program videos he has ever seen. “This really is a good tool and people need to see it,” he said.