Current Trends In Baptisms
On the NAMB web site, Ed Stetzer has a current article on DISTURBING TRENDS IN BAPTISMS. We Southern Baptists are always talking about baptisms – how to have more, who should be baptized, where baptisms should take place, as well as other issues. Stetzer points out that despite all our talk, we have fewer and fewer baptisms.
In the latest information, EVERY baptism category but one decreased. The category that increased – Preschoolers - under the age 5. We do not need to debate the issue, but to see that there are fewer baptisms in persons over 5 in our Southern Baptist Churches should disturb us. It should motivate us to stop talking and become PERSONALLY involved in evangelism.
Some other statistics of note: 11,740 of our churches 0-1 baptisms (up 5.6% in 2004), more than 55% of our churches reported NO YOUTH BAPTISMS (12 – 17 year olds) (again, up 3% from the previous year), and the number of our churches that baptized more than 10 persons did decrease from 2004. Another alarming thought – fewer than 40% of our baptisms come from the unchurched (which is growing every year).
We talk and talk. Bobby Welch says “we’re just rearranging furniture” and “we’re not reaching the pagan pool.” The fact of the matter is, few of our churches are reaching outside themselves to be the Great Commission Church that God has called us to be in the world in which we live. What are we going to do about it?
Though these statistics may seem old, I think they are good for us to review. According to a study of adults baptized in 1993 (if anyone has a morer recent study, please let me know):
∆ nearly 20 percent of SBC baptisms came from those who were already baptized by immersion in an SBC church
∆ another 40 percent came from people who had been sprinkled at an earlier time, mostly as children.
∆ only 40 percent of people baptized in the year of our study considered their baptism to be a result of conversion.
Perhaps we are just rearranging the furniture.
In the near future, I will review the ACPs the member churches of the Tar River Baptist Association turned in for 2006-2006. I am pretty confident we will mirror what is happening on the national scale. Will we continue to talk, or will we commit ourselves to the tremendous task before us and reach outside our church walls to those that are lost all around us?
Stetzer writes, “We can bemoan declining baptisms for another year or we can ask ourselves several hard questions. Why do some churches reach people and others do not? What can we learn from them? What passion have we lost? What will it take to stir the waters of baptism once again?
To read Stetzer’s full article, along with another article that explains why current culture has a negative perception of Southern Baptist Church culture, click here.
I had not intended to write on this blog again this month, but felt I needed to share this information.
In the latest information, EVERY baptism category but one decreased. The category that increased – Preschoolers - under the age 5. We do not need to debate the issue, but to see that there are fewer baptisms in persons over 5 in our Southern Baptist Churches should disturb us. It should motivate us to stop talking and become PERSONALLY involved in evangelism.
Some other statistics of note: 11,740 of our churches 0-1 baptisms (up 5.6% in 2004), more than 55% of our churches reported NO YOUTH BAPTISMS (12 – 17 year olds) (again, up 3% from the previous year), and the number of our churches that baptized more than 10 persons did decrease from 2004. Another alarming thought – fewer than 40% of our baptisms come from the unchurched (which is growing every year).
We talk and talk. Bobby Welch says “we’re just rearranging furniture” and “we’re not reaching the pagan pool.” The fact of the matter is, few of our churches are reaching outside themselves to be the Great Commission Church that God has called us to be in the world in which we live. What are we going to do about it?
Though these statistics may seem old, I think they are good for us to review. According to a study of adults baptized in 1993 (if anyone has a morer recent study, please let me know):
∆ nearly 20 percent of SBC baptisms came from those who were already baptized by immersion in an SBC church
∆ another 40 percent came from people who had been sprinkled at an earlier time, mostly as children.
∆ only 40 percent of people baptized in the year of our study considered their baptism to be a result of conversion.
Perhaps we are just rearranging the furniture.
In the near future, I will review the ACPs the member churches of the Tar River Baptist Association turned in for 2006-2006. I am pretty confident we will mirror what is happening on the national scale. Will we continue to talk, or will we commit ourselves to the tremendous task before us and reach outside our church walls to those that are lost all around us?
Stetzer writes, “We can bemoan declining baptisms for another year or we can ask ourselves several hard questions. Why do some churches reach people and others do not? What can we learn from them? What passion have we lost? What will it take to stir the waters of baptism once again?
To read Stetzer’s full article, along with another article that explains why current culture has a negative perception of Southern Baptist Church culture, click here.
I had not intended to write on this blog again this month, but felt I needed to share this information.
Labels: Baptisms
posted by Dougald McLaurin at
8:24 PM
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