I Will Build

Even though there are scores of local church congregations across America and around the world, we remain unified by a common Savior, who has given us a common purpose. Romans 12 says:
4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,
5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Local churches and denominations, as well as non-denominational churches, come in a variety of sizes and shapes - some are united by a strong governing body that sets church policy, others are part of denominations or organizations that have autonomous local congregations. But, what unites us is the presence of Jesus, and our willingness to serve Him in fellowship with other believers.  When we are functioning as one, even though we may belong to or attend different church bodies, we can see the power of God work to transform our communities.  

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The Church is the institution established by Jesus, who said, "I will build my church," so that the Church would reflect the love and life of our Savior. Ephesians 2 says:
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord...

14.1 million people.

That's a powerful force for Christ from just one denomination.

The latest set of numerical figures regarding participation in the Southern Baptist Convention has just been released, and it shows that while 2020 was a year of decline in several key areas, there is still incredible potential.

Here is the raw data, from Lifeway Christian Resources:

Slightly more churches in operation, 62 more, in fact, in 2020, from the previous year, to tip the scales at almost 48,000 churches. 

But, membership was slightly down, from just over 14.5 million members to just under 14.1 - that's a 3% decline.

Baptisms were down significantly, from almost 236,000 in 2019 to just over 123,000 last year - over a 47% decline.

Average weekly worship attendance was down to 4.44 million, from 5.25 million the year before; all state conventions did not provide information in this category. The Lifeway summary of this data says this is a greater than 15% decline.

Lifeway's summary of this survey, the Annual Church Profile, states:

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said a number of factors likely contributed to the 3 percent decline in overall membership, including fewer congregations, fewer additions through baptism and other additions, likely higher deaths from COVID-19, and other reductions in the membership of individual Southern Baptist congregations.

Yes, this was a COVID year, and you really don't know what story the numbers would have told had conditions been more normal, but the summary notes that the SBC has been in a "14-year trend of membership decline.", relating that, "Membership in Southern Baptist congregations peaked at 16.3 million in 2006, declining more than 2 million since." The summary also notes that, "This is the 9th straight year with fewer baptisms reported than the prior year."

But, as McConnell notes, “Socially distant behavior is helpful for containing a pandemic, but it hindered meeting new people, inviting people to church, and helping them take a step of obedience to be baptized...The additional outreach through online methods did not make a dent in the smaller number of opportunities to share the gospel in person, including fewer Vacation Bible Schools, live events, and weekly services to invite people to attend. The last year Southern Baptists saw this few people follow Christ for the first time was 1918 and 1919 when the influenza pandemic was sweeping the world.”

A Religion News story on the numbers included comments from a high-ranking SBC leader:

Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC’s Executive Committee, said the report showed a need for a renewed focus on evangelism, missions and church planting.

“It may take years for us to know the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our churches,” Floyd told Baptist Press. “There are lessons to be learned from 2020 as we put it behind us — such as the vital need for corporate worship, the value of being creative in developing ways to share the Gospel, and how much local communities need our churches to minister in difficult circumstances.”

As the Convention prepares to meet later this month in Nashville for an event that is reportedly approaching record numbers, there are certainly issues to be dealt with on the leadership level. But, one must remember that the SBC is comprised of autonomous local churches - so the cumulative statistics are made up of local church data.  And, this upcoming convention will likely have some substantive debates - a new convention president will be chosen from four announced candidates.  And, many Southern Baptists are still stinging from the hastily-passed Resolution 9 dealing with critical race theory and intersectionality, which a number of Baptists do not feel went far enough in repudiating these worldly ideas. 

I would also submit, that if you look at the numbers, Southern Baptists may be declining numerically, but the church landscape in local communities is changing.  There do seem to simply be more choices. And, researcher Ryan Burge wrote several years ago:

Are nondenominational Christians just Southern Baptists by another name? The answer is a tentative “yes”, with some caveats. Nondenominational churches are typically younger and more racially diverse than Southern Baptist churches. On religious matters, both groups attend church at the same rate, yet nondenominationals are more likely to hold a moderate theological position on the Bible than SBC churchgoers. Finally, when it comes to politics it seems that Southern Baptists and nondenominational Christians are very similar. Nondenominational parishioners are slightly more supportive of same-sex marriage and slightly less supportive of abortion rights, but these differences are small. Taken together it makes sense that there is so much movement between Southern Baptists and nondenominational churches as the differences are in many cases small or nonexistent.

But, it starts at the local level - with each of us!  A healthy church is made up of people who are growing spiritually, as well as people who find the church to be a safe place to bring their struggles. Every believer can examine how he or she is contributing to the spiritual growth of the local church.  When the love of Christ is being shared and the life of Christ is being lived, people will be drawn to what they see.  That's how the Church grows.