SBC baptism rate lowest in two decades: Membership sees slight drop
The number of baptisms by Southern Baptists—who consider the rite a gauge of their evangelistic success—has dropped to the lowest rate in two decades.
The denomination, which has also seen a slight decrease in membership numbers, recorded 342,198 baptisms in 2008, a decrease of 1.1 percent from the previous year, according to LifeWay Christian Resources, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention that compiles annual statistics.