By Jeff Brumley
Stemming the decline in Southern Baptist church membership will be the focus of a Jan. 29 workshop hosted by the Florida Baptist Convention and North American Mission Board in Brandon, Fla.
The Florida Baptist Witness reported the one-day event is designed “to equip pastors with tools to infuse new life in their congregations” in an era when 72 percent of SBC churches have plateaued or declined.
One key is planting new churches, NAMB President Kevin Ezell told the Witness about the “Send North America Church Growth and Revitalization Conference.”
“But at the same time we lose almost 900 churches a year,” he added. “This simply cannot continue if we are to truly impact lostness in North America.”
In June, Lifeway Christian Resources reported that membership in the SBC declined for the fifth straight year in 2011, dropping below 16 million for the first time since 2000.
The 2011 Annual Church Profile reported total membership of 15,978,112, a 1-percent drop from the 16,136,044 declared the previous year, ABPnews reported.
The SBC first hit 16 million members in 2001 and peaked at 16,306,246 in 2006. It has declined every year since. The drop that began in 2007 was the first membership loss in 10 years and only the second since 1926.