Nearly 9,000 Southern Baptist messengers at the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting June 11, 2019, vote to pass an amendment regarding churches and sexual abuse. | Van Payne
A year after reporting the largest single-year membership decline in more than 100 years, churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, the nationâs largest Protestant denomination, lost more than 400,000 members in 2020 and set a new record for the single-year decline amid the coronavirus pandemic and a bitter culture war.
The Annual Church Profile report shows membership in SBC congregations declined by a staggering 435,632 in 2020, more than 50% higher than the 287,655 members the denomination reported losing from 2018 to 2019.
While the number of SBC congregations increased slightly by 62 to 47,592 over the previous year, the decline in membership in 2020 continues a sustained negative 14-year trend that began when SBC church membership peaked at 16.3 million in 2006. Since then, the denom
SBC records biggest-ever drop in members
Monday, May 24, 2021 |
OneNewsNow.com Staff (OneNewsNow.com)
Spanish
The nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, has released an annual report showing a jaw-dropping one-year decline in membership: 435,632 fewer members.
The Christian Post was among the first news outlets to report on the Annual Church Profile, which comes from SBC congregations that share their year-to-year figures.
The newest figure showing a steep decline is more than 50% higher than the SBC’s record-setting decline in 2019, the Post pointed out.
The news story also quotes Scott McConnell, who leads Lifeway Research. He said church congregations impacted by the pandemic witnessed a decline in baptisms and likely endured the deaths of church members, too.
SBC church membership suffers new historic 1-year decline | Church & Ministries christianpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from christianpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Most pastors feel strongly that marijuana should remain illegal even as an increasing number of states legalize medical and recreational use and public perception shifts regarding the plant-based drug, a new study of over 1,000 Protestant pastors has found.
Marijuana plants are sold at the Canna Pi medical marijuana dispensary in Seattle, Washington. | Reuters/ Anthony Bolante
Most pastors feel strongly that marijuana should remain illegal even as an increasing number of states legalize medical and recreational use and public perception shifts regarding the plant-based drug, a new study of over 1,000 Protestant pastors has found.
The study released Tuesday from the Nashville-based Lifeway Research found that fewer than one-in-five pastors (18%) say marijuana should be legalized throughout the United States for “any purpose.”
About 76% of pastors either somewhat or strongly disagreed with the idea of legalizing marijuana for any purpose, including 59% who disagree strongly. Only 6% said they are not sure.