BGCT grew in 2000, despite loss of some churches
___By Dan Martin
___Texas Baptist Communications
___The Baptist General Convention of Texas continued to grow in the 1999-2000 church year, despite loss of some congregations to a recently formed alternative state convention.
___The growth is reflected in the number of congregations, Sunday School attendance, total receipts, missions giving and number of people involved in missions projects.
___Four other key indicators--baptisms, total membership, resident membership and Sunday School enrollment--declined slightly, although in proportion to the number of churches that have departed for unique alignment with the new state convention.
___The statistics were compiled by Clay Price, BGCT research and information services manager, from the Annual Church Profiles submitted by Texas Baptist congregations. The statistics are for the church year Oct. 1, 1999, to Sept. 30, 2000.
___"The statistics represent a snapshot of BGCT life, and the report is our best picture of where the convention stood at the end of the ... year," Price said.
___"We gain and lose congregations every day," he noted. "Since last October, we have already added another 105 congregations, while losing other congregations that have disbanded, merged or withdrawn. It is very difficult to maintain an ongoing account of congregations because they are constantly changing."
___In the year covered by the report, the total number of congregations affiliated with the BGCT grew from 5,975 to 5,994, a net gain of 19, he said. The gain came from the addition of 297 new congregations, coupled with the loss of 278 congregations.
___Price estimated that during this one-year period the BGCT lost 125 churches to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. That estimate does not include any churches that have left the BGCT since the BGCT annual session in October.
___In addition, the BGCT last year lost 119 congregations through disbandment, 21 through mergers and 13 for other reasons.
___While the total number of congregations affiliated with the BGCT showed a net gain of 0.3 percent, the total number of constituted churches dropped 1.4 percent, from 4,872 to 4,805. The number of missions increased 7.8 percent, from 1,103 to 1,189.
___Over the last decade, Price said, the BGCT showed a gain of 14.2 percent in number of congregations, with 745 additions. Likewise, the number of churches increased 11 percent, from 4,330 to 4,805, and the number of missions climbed 29.4 percent, from 919 to 1,189.
___Over the past year, Sunday School average attendance in BGCT churches increased 0.9 percent, to 641,405 from 635,706. For the decade, Sunday School average attendance increased 6.8 percent, from 600,639 in 1990.
___Total receipts increased 5.4 percent, to $1.44 billion from $1.36 billion. For the decade, total receipts increased 69.7 percent.
___Total missions giving in BGCT churches passed the $150 million mark last year, amounting to $152.1 million. That is an increase of 4.9 percent over 1999, when giving was $144.96 million. Over the decade, missions giving increased 26 percent.
___The number of Texas Baptists involved in missions projects also increased to 160,350 last year, up from 148,748 the previous year. This includes 95,913 engaged in local projects, 21,859 in other Texas efforts, 17,429 in the nation and 19,875 outside the United States.
___Price noted the number of people engaged in missions work represents about 25 percent of those who regularly attend Sunday School.
___Giving to associational missions also increased, gaining 3.5 percent to $15.98 million. For the decade, giving to associational work increased 42.8 percent.
___Baptisms in the year just-ended totaled 64,943, the 13th highest year on record. That compares with 68,083 baptisms reported the previous year, the third-highest year on record.
___Price estimated the churches that left the BGCT last year would have accounted for about 2,500 baptisms.
___For the decade, Texas Baptist congregations baptized 698,489 people.
___Total membership in BGCT churches declined 1.1 percent last year, Price reported. The year-end total was 2.69 million, down from 2.72 million. That change also was in keeping with the loss of congregations, Price said. For the decade, total membership increased 5.8 percent.
___Similarly, resident membership in BGCT churches dropped 0.8 percent, to 1.76 million. For the decade, resident membership increased 11.3 percent.
___Sunday School enrollment declined 0.6 percent, to 1.43 million. For the decade, enrollment increased 6.4 percent.
___Enrollment in Woman's Missionary Union, Baptist Men and music ministry all declined slightly. WMU enrollment was 117,911, down from 120,482; Baptist Men was 53,743, down from 54,891; and music ministry was 227,034, down from 235,783.
___Vacation Bible School participation also declined slightly, to 444,759 from 456,525.
___Morning worship average attendance increased 0.5 percent, to 864,799. For the decade, the increase was 27.6 percent.
___As part of his research, Price also noted that on average, 11 percent of BGCT churches are without pastors at any given time, and another 14 percent have a pastor who has been on the field less than a year.
___"That means about a quarter of our churches either are without pastoral leadership or have a new pastor. This is a significant challenge for the BGCT as we seek to help churches with their leadership issues," he said.
___Additionally, 38 percent of the churches affiliated with the BGCT have pastors who have served their congregations less than three years, and 54 percent have pastoral tenures of less than five years.
___"Only 22 percent of our pastors have served their congregations more than 10 years, and less than 3 percent have been with their congregations for more than 25 years," he said.
___Meanwhile, Texas Baptists face an "enormous mission challenge, which boggles our minds, our hearts and our resources," Price said.
___"From 1990 to 2000, the Texas population grew from 16,986,510 to 20,851,820. That is a net gain of 3,865,310," he reported.
___The net gain in Texas population is approximately equal to the entire population of Kentucky (4,041,769), South Carolina, (4,012,012) or Oklahoma (3,450,654).
___"The population of Texas grew four times faster than our membership," Price said, adding that the challenge of reaching the state for Christ is "truly formidable.
___"We have a great convention of churches, people and financial resources, and it will take all of these to address the great mission field of Texas and beyond."
___
The Baptist Standard
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