Trevin Wax: Southern Baptists' Millenial Problem

The 46,000 churches of the Southern Baptist Convention are baptizing fewer people this year, and most of our churches are not baptizing any millennials (which means, depending on generational calculations, people between the ages of 14-34, or, teenagers through early thirties). Christianity Today reports:

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).

To put it in the starkest of terms, Southern Baptists have a millennial problem. These reports indicate that our churches are aging, and that we are largely ineffective in reaching teenagers and twenty-somethings.

A task force appointed to study the declining baptismal numbers recently offered five reasons for this problem. I affirm their findings and offer a few additional thoughts. Keep reading

See also
Timothy George: Troubled Waters