Cooperative Program spotlight

MEET THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM TEAM

In 2020, 83 new churches were started, over 1,000 future ministers received scholarships to fund their studies and roughly 100,000 ministers and lay-leaders were trained through special events, consultations and speaking engagements. That is just the tip of the impact that Texas Baptists Cooperative Program has had in one year alone.

The Cooperative Program is a way to combine resources of churches, ministries and individuals to enable more missions, evangelism and ministry throughout Texas and around the world. Meet Bruce McCoy and Ralph Emerson, the team working behind the scenes to raise awareness and foster relationships with churches in a collaborative effort to share Christ and show love.

Bruce McCoy serves Texas Baptists as director of the Cooperative Program, a role he began in summer 2020. McCoy started working with Texas Baptists in the Ambassador Program, in which he visited churches to strengthen fellowship and friendship between the churches and the Convention. He has also served as president of the Missouri Baptist Convention and as Alumni Director at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Working alongside McCoy is Ralph Emerson, the program’s associate director. Emerson has been in the preaching ministry for 19 years and has been in full-time vocational ministry for 15 years. He served as the executive pastor for Rising Star Baptist Church in Fort Worth and at City Gate Church in Burlington, NC, where he developed systems and structures to facilitate spiritual and numerical growth. He also served as senior pastor at Impact City Church in Odessa.

Both are passionate about the Cooperative Program, which McCoy explained enables churches to be a part of a ministry that multiplies their impact by combining resources with churches across the state. “Christ has commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Going requires a certain amount of expense,” he said. “With the expansive vision of Texas Baptists, we’re going to college campuses, to the underprivileged, to the unchurched, to the internationals living in Texas and worldwide. We’re underwriting the cost of these faithful witnesses as they reach the world for Christ.”

The Cooperative Program is a collaborative effort. Learn more about how your church can get involved and make an impact in Texas and beyond by going to txb.org/cp or by contacting

Bruce McCoy

bruce.mccoy@txb.org (214) 828-5306

Ralph Emerson

ralph.emerson@txb.org (214) 828-5239