Five Reasons Why Most Southern Baptist Churches Baptize Almost No Millennials

SBC task force 'owns the problem' and identifies five sources of 'stark patterns of decline' in evangelism.

The "heartbreaking slide" in Southern Baptist baptisms has now entered its seventh year. While the loss of nearly 4,600 baptisms was not as steep as last year's drop, the continued decline (full stats below) is still enough for LifeWay Christian Resources president Thom Rainer to tell Baptist Press, "I am grieved we are clearly losing our evangelistic effectiveness."

And according to a recent report by a special task force of pastors, the baptism drought in America's largest evangelical denomination—which counts 15.7 million members and 5.8 million Sunday worshipers—is worst among millennials.

In last year's Annual Church Profile, 60 percent of the more than 46,000 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) reported no youth baptisms (ages 12 to 17) in 2012, and 80 percent reported only one or zero baptisms among young adults (ages 18 to 29). One in four Southern Baptist churches reported zero baptisms overall in 2012, while the "only consistently growing" baptism group was children under five years old.

"The problem is even greater than these numbers indicate," states the task force report. "Considering how the North American population has increased substantially between the 1950s' baptism peak and today, these figures indicate how much ground we have lost and are losing." Keep reading

See also
Baptism, worship declines prompt Southern Baptist leaders' prayers for 'renewed passion'

How is your denomination or network doing? Are your denominational or network leaders being honest with you about how that organization is doing? If not, why? Could your denomination or network be more effective in reaching and engaging Millenials? How?

Photo: The Journey Church, Murray, Kentucky