Changing culture leads to decline in Baptist revivalism, historians say

ATLANTA (ABP) -- The real culprit behind declining baptisms in the
Southern Baptist Convention might be youth soccer, says historian Bill
Leonard.

Because of nightly requirements for church-going families -- including
children's sports -- week-long and two-week revivals that were once a
mainstay of Baptist life are becoming a thing of the past, Leonard says
in the summer/fall 2010 issue of the journal Baptist History and Heritage.

Leonard, professor
of church history at Wake Forest University Divinity School, says
revival movements of the 19th and 20th centuries not only propelled
Baptists from a small sectarian community to America's second-largest
denomination but also had an impact on Sunday mornings.