Study reveals declining Southern Baptist churches_11005

Posted: 1/07/05

Study reveals declining Southern Baptist churches

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

NEW ORLEANS (RNS)–The percentage of “declining” Southern Baptist churches increased in the last two decades, a church growth study has found.

The Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary found 23.9 percent of churches aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention in the period ending in 2003 were declining, compared to 17.6 percent in the period ending in 1983.

A declining church is defined as one that saw a decrease in its total membership of 10 percent or more in a five-year period.

“The passion for conversion growth appears to be fading at every level of the SBC,” concluded Bill Day, associate director of the center in New Orleans. “The SBC is moving from plateau to decline.”

A growing church is defined as one that had an increase in total membership of 10 percent or more in a five-year period. Plateaued churches are those that do not fit in either the growing or the declining category.

The Leavell Center study found the percentage of growing churches has not changed significantly in the last 20 years. In the period ending in 2003, 30.3 percent of Southern Baptist churches were designated as growing compared to 30.5 percent in the period ending in 1983.

But the number of plateaued churches has decreased–from 51.9 percent at the end of 1983 to 45.8 percent at the end of 2003.

In other findings, Day reported that churches with more than 5,000 members are almost twice as likely to be growing congregations as churches of other sizes. The study also found more than 30 percent of congregations 10 years old or younger are considered to be growing.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.