The bad news for the Southern Baptist Convention is that membership declined for the 17th consecutive year. The good news is that last year’s 1.8% decrease was less than recent years. Those are among findings from the SBC’s Annual Church…
In SBC annual statistics, even the good news isn’t that good
After plunging due to COVID closures, baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention rose again last year but remained well below 2019 levels — a year in which baptisms continued a decline that started in 1999. That’s the good news in…
As climate changes, South Africa’s river baptisms spell danger
Climate change is intensifying river flooding across South Africa. For indigenous Christian churches that conduct unlicensed, open-river baptisms, tragedies are mounting too. Nomusa Bandile lost a teenage daughter Dec. 7 when, during an open-river baptism by an unlicensed pastor, 14…
SBC loses another 435,000 members in 2020
The Southern Baptist Convention has lost 2.3 million total members — or 14% of its membership nationwide — since its peak in 2006. New annual data tracking key metrics for the nation’s largest non-Catholic Christian denomination was released last week,…
Southern Baptist baptisms at lowest level in 74 years
In 2018 the Southern Baptist Convention recorded the fewest baptisms in a year since World War II, according to statistics released last week by LifeWay Christian Resources.
Southern Baptists have lost a million members in 10 years
Membership in the Southern Baptist Convention declined for the 10th straight year, although at a slower pace than last year, while baptisms dropped to the lowest level in 70 years, according to statistics released in advance of the 2017 SBC…
Freefall continues in SBC membership, baptism stats
The Southern Baptist Convention lost more than 200,000 members last year and baptized fewer than 300,000 new converts for the first time in 68 years, according to statistics compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources. The loss of 204,409 members in 2015…
All denominations should care baptisms are down among Southern Baptists
The first response of many people may be “I don’t care”. That’s fine. You have that right. But you ought to care. More about that later. Keep reading. Why Are Baptisms Down Among Southern Baptist Churches? First, take note of…