Comments on: Southern Baptists (and Republicans): old, white and in decline?

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:30:53 +0000

Your article fails to mention that while total membership declined last year, the total number of churches and the number of people regularly attending worship services grew between 2007-2008 within the SBC. I believe this reflects a trend in a growing number of church plants (which traditionally start small but grow rapidly) and less prioritization toward membership while still actively attending services regularly. Don’t count the SBC out too quickly!

By: Jerry

Jerry — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:03:49 +0000

I have heard some equate the SBC’s decline with reported declines in Christianity, which I reject. Data indicates that Christianity is growing in some areas of the world and declining in others. The decline within the SBC is better correlated with the changing demographics in America and the resistence of older, white Americans to that change. The SBC is increasingly becoming irrelevant to a growing population base. If the SBC pays attention to James 1:27, “…to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”, they will find that the growing population base has a lot of potential constituents.

By: Nolen Dunaway

Nolen Dunaway — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:59:27 +0000

Well, this is what can happen when a denomination seeks to be exclusive and ingores the Core Values of the Baptist Community, which are:
1 A prophetic community,
2 An Inclusive community,
3. A sacrificial community,
4. A missionary community, and
5. A worshipping community. Leave out any one of these and you a going to be something other than a Baptist community.