Southern Baptist numbers drop for baptisms, membership
Annual baptisms in Southern Baptist churches have declined by 100,000 in the past 12 years and last year dropped to the lowest number in 64 years. LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention released figures on June 5 reporting 314,959 baptisms in 2012, down 18,385—or 5.5 percent—from 2011.
With a total membership of 15,872,404, the SBC marked the sixth straight year of statistical decline. It remains the nation’s second-largest faith group, behind Roman Catholics. Membership dropped by 105,000—two-thirds of a percent. Weekly worship attendance, meanwhile, fell below 6 million to 5,966,735, down 3 percent.
Long regarded a sign of denominational vitality, SBC baptisms leveled off after an all-time record 445,725 in 1972. They have declined six out of the last ten years to the lowest number since 1948, the year Southern Baptists first exceeded the 300,000-baptism benchmark with 310,266.
