Baptisms in SBC down to lowest number in 64 years

image_pdfimage_print

NASHVILLE (BP)—Southern Baptist churches reported declines in baptisms, membership, average attendance and total giving in 2012.

At the same time, Southern Baptists experienced growth in the number of churches affiliated with the convention and the total amount given for denominational missions causes, according to the Annual Church Profile compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions.

The report shows a decline of 5.5 percent in baptisms, with churches baptizing 314,956 people. Reported baptisms have declined six of the last eight years, with 2012 the lowest since 1948. The ratio of baptisms to total members increased to one baptism for every 50 members.

Fewer reported baptisms “heartbreaking”

“While we celebrate every new baptized believer represented by these numbers, fewer reported baptisms is heartbreaking,” said Thom S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay.

“Southern Baptists cannot rest on what God accomplished through us in prior years.”– Thom Rainer

“Southern Baptists cannot rest on what God accomplished through us in prior years.”

The number of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention grew by 270 to 46,034, a 0.6 percent increase over the previous year. SBC churches also reported 4,992 church-type missions last year, 40 more than in 2011, although some state conventions no longer use that designation, which may have affected the total.

Although the number of SBC-related congregations grew, reported membership of those churches declined more than 100,000, down 0.7 percent to 15.9 million members. Primary worship attendance declined 3.1 percent to 5.97 million Sunday worshippers.

“God forgive us”


Sign up for our weekly edition and get all our headlines in your inbox on Thursdays


“When I first heard the report of our ACP, I said, ‘God forgive us, and God help us,’” said Frank Page, SBC Executive Committee president. “We are thankful for every person won to Christ and every person enrolled in Bible study and discipleship and involved in missions. We are thankful for the millions who are a part of worship in our Southern Baptist churches. However, my heart breaks when we realize the overall decline in our numbers.

“Let’s get perspective on this. Where are people won to Christ? Where do people go to church? Everything depends on the local level. It is where everything of significance occurs.

“The questions that every Southern Baptist must answer are: ‘What am I doing for the Lord? Am I winning more or less people to Christ? Am I giving more or less to missions? Am I being faithful in my support of my church?’”

Changes in giving to Southern Baptist congregations are difficult to assess because not all Baptist state conventions gather the same data. However, total and undesignated receipts reported through the ACP were down 2.4 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

Total mission expenditures reported by the churches declined 1 percent in 2012, although reported giving to Southern Baptist mission causes increased more than $48 million—7 percent—to $744 million.

CP Giving flat

Giving through the SBC’s Cooperative Program mission initiative is not included in the ACP annual report because those totals are more accurately available through Baptist state conventions and the SBC Executive Committee, which processes the mission gifts. However, giving through the Cooperative Program in fiscal year 2011 was virtually the same as the previous year. Cooperative Program giving the first eight months of this year was reported June 3 to be 1.6 percent behind the same period the year before.

Individual churches report statistics for the national ACP to their local association and/or state convention, and national totals cannot be compiled and released until all cooperating state conventions have reported. Scott McConnell, LifeWay’s director of research, said the files are due in February but some final data was not received this year until the last week of May.

 


We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.

Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.

More from Baptist Standard