April 21, 1999

SBC membership dip first since '26
___By Linda Lawson
___LifeWay Christian Resources
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--For the first time since 1926, membership in Southern Baptist churches registered a decrease in 1998. The decline of 162,158, or 1.02 percent, brings the new total to 15.73 million, according to figures from the 1998 Annual Church Profile.
___Denominational leaders offered no immediate explanation for the decrease.
___While baptisms topped 400,000 for the second consecutive year, the 1998 total of 407,264 represents a decrease of 4,763 or 1.16 percent from the 1997 total of 412,027. The ratio of baptisms to total membership remained at 1:39.
___Increases were registered in Sunday morning worship attendance, Sunday school enrollment, discipleship training participation, music ministry participation and Brotherhood participation, while Woman's Missionary Union enrollment decreased less than 1 percent.

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