Comments on: Will Southern Baptists Ignore the Ongoing Decline?

By: Raymond Takashi Swenson

Raymond Takashi Swenson — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 17:15:23 +0000

Some insight into the larger trends in American religious belief and practice are provided by recent comprehensive research studies if American religious believers and of teens, which are reported and analyzed in the books American Grace and Almost Christian. Both discuss at length the trend among youth to disaffiliate from any specific denomination, in favor of a general spirituality or even generic Christianity that makes few demands in individual behavior.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:56:07 +0000

I left the church and have been much more at peace. For me, it was the church’s obsessive stand against gay people that became very, very disturbing. At least one sermon a month had an anti-gay slant, and after a while, the whole church experience began to feel “slimy.” I know I’m definitely in the minority on this issue among conservatives, but I thought I’d express my opinions anyway.

By: David

David — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 05:44:00 +0000

When the SBC is listed as the second largest church in the US, behind the Catholics, it gives us and our members a sense of complacency that, “all is well in Zion.” Report an honest number and stir everyone of us of the need to share the light of Christ. So what if the Methodist or the Mormons get ranked in membership above us. We understand that there’s more people in our churches Sunday morning than even the Catholics. Honest is as honest does….

By: Timothy

Timothy — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 23:11:04 +0000

An observation from one outside the SBC family. At my workplace which is largely SBC, the SBC women have only 1 child, which isn’y even replacement level. Eventually demographics kick in.

We had three births. My brother has had five. Our branch of the “ekklesia kath olus” (Acts 9:31) is still growing.

Might look at other verses in scripture other than Mat 18, 26 & 28, namely Gen 1:28

God bless…

By: Teresa W.

Teresa W. — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:30:29 +0000

Although I believe you all have a valid point about church membership roles and the report of baptism’s, I believe the problem runs much deeper than what you may realize. The problem comes with the erosion of a Biblical foundation in our society at large.

In the ’50’s most children had an understanding that God created the world in 6 days, that He made the first man and woman and placed them in a garden paradise called Eden with instructions not to eat from the Tree of the Knowlege of Good and Evil or they would surely die. Most knew that Adam and Eve disobeyed and as a result brought sin into the world and it was that sin that caused us to need a Savior.

Today’s young adults, teens and children mostly have attended public schools where God is not allowed. They are taught that God is good for Sunday but irrelevant to the rest of life. They are taught that science has all the answers to how the world was made, that is was made from chemicals that exploded in a big bang and slowly over billions of years it evolved to the point where we are now. They are taught that we have evolved from monkeys and apes, not that we are made in the image of God.

For those who do attend Sunday School with their families when they are kids and teens, they are taught Bible stories but not given the foundation they need to demolish the strongholds of the views they are taught for the other six days of the week. They are taught they need Jesus but they are not given the apologetics they must have in order to defend their belief in Christ. So when they are asked to defend their faith, they have no defense.

I have recently read a very good book that explains this further. It was based on a study done of people who came from Christian evangelical homes that attended church regularly for their growing up years. Now they do not attend church at all. The study’s purpose was to find out why. The book is called “Already Gone” and was written by Ken Ham. I highly recommend it.

As a the body of Christ we must not compromise Scripture in order to accommodate the world. We must stand firm on the Word of God. That means all of it, from the very first verse. Many pastors do not understand how vitally important it is that they provide clear teaching about evolution, sin, and God’s Word. They will say it is ok to believe in evolution and confess Christ. If that is the case, then the authority of Scripture gets undermined and the salt loses it’s saltiness.

By: WWJD for a declining denomination? « BaptistPlanet

WWJD for a declining denomination? « BaptistPlanet — Wed, 19 May 2010 02:43:07 +0000

[...] Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, looks at the “ongoing decline” of theSouthern Baptist Convention (SBC) membership. He says a loss of 68,350 members in 2009 [...]

By: Nathan M

Nathan M — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:02:11 +0000

I agree with Jamie and others with similar concepts. Hopefully some of the declines can be attributed to cleaning up church roles and more cautious membership procedures.

By: Cory McDonald

Cory McDonald — Tue, 18 May 2010 09:04:10 +0000

My family and I attended a SBC for several years. My wife was a teen ministry leader and because of issues within that ministry and the lack of discipline that should’ve taken against another teacher because of things he said and did my wife quit the ministry and after a month left the church. The Pastor is a good friend of mine, but he is too nice and therefor doesn’t handle things the way he should. I think that’s part of the numbers issue. The other thing that I think is the problem is the teaching going on in the church. Two months ago my wife came home and asked for a divorce. When she (my wife) sought Godly advice about marriage and divorce she was told “talk to your husband and if he won’t change the things that are bothering you then God will release you from your marriage”. All of us know that isn’t sound Godly advice and is against what the bible teaches. The other issue is the lack of worship services and the music being sang and performed. Teenagers during Sunday services don’t want to sing and listen to the same hymnals our grandparents sang. Think Klove and Air1 and that’s what teens and even young adults in my age group (I’m 32) want to sing and listen to that kind of worship music.

By: A Sixth Option-SBC Rebirth #GCR | Mission Leader

A Sixth Option-SBC Rebirth #GCR | Mission Leader — Tue, 18 May 2010 04:00:09 +0000

[...] recently hit us with the latest report on Southern Baptist Decline and Ed Stetzer wrote, Will Southern Baptist’s Ignore the Ongoing Decline?. The article offered five response’s to the continued [...]

By: Between the Times Blog and The GCR :: Baptist Messenger of Oklahoma

Between the Times Blog and The GCR :: Baptist Messenger of Oklahoma — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:23:30 +0000

[...] have a lot to do with why the GCR exists in the first place. For an example of the latter: “Will Southern Baptists Ignore the Ongoing Decline?” by Ed [...]