Southern Baptist Church plants: 5% gain in 2014

Southern Baptists planted 985 new churches in 2014 -- a 5 percent increase over 2013 church starts.

This is very good news as we work toward diminishing the church-to-population deficit that steadily grew larger over the last century in the United States and Canada. It is also good because new churches, on average, reach people for Christ at a higher rate than existing churches.

These are churches like Mosaic in Alberta, Canada. They launched on Easter 2014 and have already seen 200 people give their lives to Christ, with 40 of them being baptized. They started giving to the Cooperative Program shortly after they launched.

Southern Baptists also saw 208 new churches affiliate with our convention in 2014. In all, that means 1,193 new congregations were added to the SBC.

Sioux Falls, S.D., church planter Jonathan Land preaches at a Connection Church worship service. The church is part of the North American Mission Board's church plant class of 2014, having launched on Easter last year.

And there are good reports in regions outside the South where Southern Baptists have not traditionally been as strong.... Keep reading