FIRST-PERSON: Dear Southern Baptist

Dear Southern Baptist,

You are one of millions of Southern Baptists in one of over 47,000 churches, and I’m a pastor in New Mexico. We cannot possibly know each other, but you have made a tremendous difference in my life because you give faithfully to your church. So, even though I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, I felt obligated to write to you a brief note of my gratitude.

I am not a missionary, though I have been on 10 or more mission trips throughout the years. I am not a church planter, though I served as the worship pastor of a church plant years ago. However, your generosity in giving through the Cooperative Program fuels incredible efforts to plant churches and send missionaries across North America and around the globe. 

Our church directly supports a few missionaries and a church plant, but I realize our tiny church, though generous, could never fund enough missionaries and church planters to effectively “propagate the Gospel” on our own. When we link arms (and hands and feet) with our fellow Southern Baptists, however, we can. While I thank you for giving generously to your local church and thank the thousands of churches for their generosity with the Cooperative Program, I want to make it even more personal in this open letter of sorts.

My momma once said, “Money does not grow on trees,” and I even proved her right when I attempted to “plant” a dollar bill as a kid. While my church is generous to us with a parsonage and salary, my equipping as a pastor would be limited if it was not for you. You see, when you give through the Cooperative Program, you make it possible for people like me to get a first-class, confessional, and biblically robust education at one of our six seminaries. 

Back in 2014, I enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to pursue my Master of Divinity. Your faithful giving cut the cost of over 90 credit hours of practical training in half. A couple of years ago, I enrolled again to pursue my Doctor of Ministry. Your faithful giving made that attainable, too. At SWBTS graduations, there is a page on the graduation notes with a “thank you” to Southern Baptists for giving through the Cooperative Program that helps folks like me receive a seminary education that does not break the bank or incur thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans.

So, let me echo that “thank you” as a small-church pastor with four kids who is a better husband, father, and pastor because of you. There are thousands upon thousands of men and women like me who have been equipped over many decades in our six seminaries because of you. Without your generosity, many of us would only be able to dream of a robust seminary education. Instead, your giving helps churches across our country and missionaries worldwide by training men and women theologically to advance the Kingdom.

So, thank you. Thank you for making it possible for me to attend Southwestern Seminary not once but twice. Thank you for investing in the lives of near-countless men and women who have used that training to carry out our mission of propagating the Gospel. Southern Baptists give a lot of ink to the work the Cooperative Program fuels with church planting (NAMB) and missions (IMB), and rightfully so, but as a (almost, May 7 is right around the corner) two-time graduate of one of your seminaries, thanks—from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

In Him,

Matt Henslee

*Matt Henslee is a 2017 M.Div. graduate of Southwestern Seminary. He will graduate with his D.Min. on May 7.