DALLAS—Only about one-fourth of the congregations affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas have been involved in annual meetings in recent years, a committee charged with studying ways to increase annual meeting attendance discovered.
In the last five years, 74 percent of BGCT-affiliated churches did not send any messengers to even one annual meeting of the state convention, according to data Clay Price, BGCT information analyst, provided the committee. That means more than 3,200 congregations have not been represented at any annual meeting from 2005 to 2009. Another 427 congregations had at least one messenger attend just one meeting.
The number of churches with messengers attending an annual meeting has decreased each year from 2006 to 2009, Price reported. At the 2006 annual meeting, 616 churches sent messengers. By the 2009 meeting, that number dropped to 502 churches.
Church historian Alan Lefever, director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection , also provided the study committee long-term historical perspective on the annual meeting.
From 1936 to 1990, the percentage of affiliated churches that sent messengers to the BGCT annual meeting fluctuated from a high of 47 percent to a low of 20 percent, with most of the meetings drawing participation in the mid-30 percentage range, he reported.
As the committee explores options for a revised annual meeting format, Lefever noted the event was held in churches until the 1950s.
From 1886 to 1941, the annual meeting was four to five days duration, beginning on a Tuesday and ending on a Friday or Saturday. From 1942 to 1990, it was three days long. From 1991 to 2002, it was two days, with no afternoon session on the second day. Since 2003, it has started early afternoon on a Monday and ended at noon Tuesday.
While the Texas Baptist annual meeting has been held in October or November for most of its history, the conventions that merged to form the BGCT in 1886 met in May or June from 1848 to 1854, Lefever noted.
Kyle Henderson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Athens and chair of the study committee, noted the committee is exploring a variety of approaches and is interested in hearing from Texas Baptists. To contact him, e-mail [email protected] .
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