Baptisms and worship attendance grow despite recent Southern Baptist membership decline - Lifeway Research
Baptisms, worship service attendance, and small group participation all grew in 2023 despite a slide in total memberships among congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), according to a Lifeway Research report.
The Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by Lifeway Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions details the annual numerical changes for the SBC. Membership declined for the 17th straight year, dropping below 13 million for the first time since the mid-1970s. However, the less than 2% decline was the smallest in recent years.
Additionally, Southern Baptist-affiliated congregations experienced increases in baptisms, average weekly worship attendance, and average small group attendance. Total baptisms climbed to more than 226,000. In-person weekly worship service average attendance topped 4 million for the first time in three years, while in-person small group average attendance reached nearly 2.5 million. Average online worship service participation also increased.
The number of churches associated with the SBC decreased by 292, less than a percentage point, to 46,906. The number of church-type missions declined by 170 to 2,474, but the number of additional campuses reported by multisite churches grew by 95 to 680. Meanwhile, among states that collect financial information, undesignated receipts grew by less than 1% to top $10 billion in 2023, and mission expenditures through Southern Baptist avenues increased by more than 9% to reach almost $800 million.