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SBC reports baptism rate lowest in decade: Membership dropped; attendance increased

The number of baptisms in Southern Baptist churches—considered a key measure of vitality and evangelism—dropped to its lowest level in a decade last year, the denomination has announced.

The announcement came as outgoing SBC president, Frank Page, author of a recent book, The Incredible Shrinking Church, said in a May 1 conference call to fellow pastors that resistance to change and succumbing to distractions could kill off more than half of the denomination’s 44,000 congregations by 2030.

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