| SBC reports second straight membership decline |
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| By Bob Allen | |
| Sunday, April 26, 2009 | |
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) -- In 2008, the Southern Baptist Convention showed a net loss in total membership for the second straight year and baptized the lowest number of new members since 1987, according to annual statistics compiled by the denomination's publishing-and-research arm. LifeWay Christian Resources' Annual Church Profile for 2008 showed baptisms -- a traditional marker of church vitality -- totaled 342,108 in 2008, 3,743 fewer than in 2007. Total membership of Southern Baptist churches was 16,228,438 last year, down nearly 38,400 from the year before. Last year the SBC lost nearly 40,000 members, the first decline since 1998 and only the second since 1926. Baptisms peaked in 1972 at 445,725, but observers say baptisms have essentially been plateaued since 1950 -- despite an overall membership base that has increased almost every year since then. In 1950 it took 19 SBC church members to baptize one person. In 2008 the ratio was 47-1. Rainer said Southern Baptists need to experience a "Great Commission resurgence," a reference to the "conservative resurgence" that reformed the convention's theology during the 1980s and 90s, but failed in its aim to make the denomination more evangelistic. The Great Commission is Jesus' command to go and make disciples found in Matt. 28:16-20. Despite the economic downturn and membership decline, the report also showed, Southern Baptists gave 2.3 percent more to missions last year over the previous year. "Southern Baptists are among the most generous and mission-minded people in the world," Rainer said. "They will give even when they’re hurting so the spiritual and physical needs of others are met." -30- Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.                 Comments (3)
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written by Broadman, April 28, 2009
Amen, Pastor Dean!
Of course, ABP has an agenda here, to wit, to denigrate the SBC. I don't believe they are any more concerned about integrity in membership that your average corporate SBC leader seems to have been over the past 30 some-odd years. But a growing number of us are troubled by our bloated rolls. We have a lot of dead wood, not disciples. Pastor Dean and Broadman written by Ken, April 28, 2009
We've got to be careful not to fall into the "numbers don't matter" trap. Numbers represent people. Too many churches use the "numbers don't matter" routine to justify their own declining attendance.
King David was not punished simply for taking a census. God previously told Moses to take a census, so He obviously has no problem with counting heads as such. Scholars disagree on the reason David was punished. Personally, I think he probably failed to carry out the census according to the guidelines set forth in the law of Moses (Exodus 30:11-16). That said, both of you made excellent points regarding the integrity of our numbers - or rather, the lack thereof. Many of our Southern Baptist leaders have called attention to that problem for years. How can we expect God to bless us if we're not honest about our own membership? Unfortunately, since we believe in local church autonomy, there is little the SBC leaders can do about the problem. If the problem is to be solved, the solution must come from the bottom up. Readers alone are responsible for the content of the comments they post here. The comments are subject to the site’s terms and conditions of use and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or approval of the ABP News. Readers whose comments violate the terms of use may have their comments removed or all of their content blocked from viewing by other users without notification.
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When baptists start getting honest about their memberships and stop counting those who have died, moved out of county, or moved their membership without benefit of notification; the quicker we will be able to focus on the realities of the flock and their needs.
Pastor Dean