America’s Largest Evangelical Protestant Denomination Continues To Lose Members

[Beet]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The nation’s largest Protestant denomination reported its twelfth year of declining membership in an annual report released Thursday.

The Southern Baptist Convention said it had 14.8 million members in 2018, down about 192,000 from the previous year. Baptisms also declined by about 7,600 to 246,442. That’s an important measure for a denomination with a strong commitment to evangelism.

Scott McConnell is director of the SBC’s Lifeway Research. He said baptisms have declined in eight of the last 10 years and are down more than 100,000 from 2009.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/southern-baptist-convention-membership_n_5ce7f932e4b0cce67c89ad1a

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

bEiNg ReLiGiOuSlY pRoGrEsSiVe MaKeS yOu LoSe MeMbErS

[PSOL]

bEiNg ReLiGiOuSlY pRoGrEsSiVe MaKeS yOu LoSe MeMbErS

The issue is that religiously progressive folks don’t flock to Christianity, they go straight into the non-Abrahamic religions (American Buddhism, Wicca, etc.)

[Indy Texas]

The SBC has a very stodgy, buttoned-up image and view on personal behavior. For instance, more traditionalist members oppose consuming alcohol.

That doesn't really jibe with the libertine tendencies of modern American conservatism. The Republican Party is led by Mr. Pussy Grabber. And, no alcohol? That sounds like something Muslims do! Can't have that!

No surprise the marginal members would rather go to a non-denominational megachurch that tells them making a bunch of money and buying a bunch of shiny, flashy consumer products means they're fulfilling God's commands.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

bEiNg ReLiGiOuSlY pRoGrEsSiVe MaKeS yOu LoSe MeMbErS

I mean, it's not the only thing that makes churches lose members, but it does make churches lose members.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Great news!

Damn, the future sure does look bleak for evangelicals and fundies.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Great news!

Damn, the future sure does look bleak for evangelicals and fundies.

Actually it looks bright. At least here in Northern Indiana

[Badger]

Great news!

Damn, the future sure does look bleak for evangelicals and fundies.

Actually it looks bright. At least here in Northern Indiana

Oh God, it's back.

[Person Man]

The SBC has a very stodgy, buttoned-up image and view on personal behavior. For instance, more traditionalist members oppose consuming alcohol.

That doesn't really jibe with the libertine tendencies of modern American conservatism. The Republican Party is led by Mr. Pussy Grabber. And, no alcohol? That sounds like something Muslims do! Can't have that!

No surprise the marginal members would rather go to a non-denominational megachurch that tells them making a bunch of money and buying a bunch of shiny, flashy consumer products means they're fulfilling God's commands.

A lot of Evangelical things are Muslim things.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I think people are missing the point when they say a church needs to be progressive or traditional or whatever. In these days, people with a spiritual disposition are more inclined to shop around to find a religion most disposed to them in particular, which helps those groups that have a distinct identity and appeal to a certain niche (which can range from ultra-trad factions to BRTD style woke Christianity) but spells peril for mass membership churches that seek to cater to everybody.

[Nyvin]

Sounds good to me!   Great progress the country is making!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The SBC has a very stodgy, buttoned-up image and view on personal behavior. For instance, more traditionalist members oppose consuming alcohol.

That doesn't really jibe with the libertine tendencies of modern American conservatism. The Republican Party is led by Mr. Pussy Grabber. And, no alcohol? That sounds like something Muslims do! Can't have that!

No surprise the marginal members would rather go to a non-denominational megachurch that tells them making a bunch of money and buying a bunch of shiny, flashy consumer products means they're fulfilling God's commands.

ELLIOT RODGERS
L
L
IncelTX
O
T

[Indy Texas]

The SBC has a very stodgy, buttoned-up image and view on personal behavior. For instance, more traditionalist members oppose consuming alcohol.

That doesn't really jibe with the libertine tendencies of modern American conservatism. The Republican Party is led by Mr. Pussy Grabber. And, no alcohol? That sounds like something Muslims do! Can't have that!

No surprise the marginal members would rather go to a non-denominational megachurch that tells them making a bunch of money and buying a bunch of shiny, flashy consumer products means they're fulfilling God's commands.

ELLIOT RODGERS
L
L
IncelTX
O
T

Okay.

Sanchez on a white supremacist shooting rampage:

Sounds like a minor incident, in terms of casualty count. 4 injuries, no fatalities.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Great news!

Damn, the future sure does look bleak for evangelicals and fundies.

Not fast enough though. It is an encouraging trend nonetheless.

[Sumner 1868]

https://news.gallup.com/poll/248837/church-membership-down-sharply-past-two-decades.aspx

[Fuzzy Bear]

Great news!

Damn, the future sure does look bleak for evangelicals and fundies.

My future doesn't look bleak at all.  Because I have believed in Jesus Christ, and Him, exclusively, as Savior, His Redemptive Work being the sole means by which Man can be Saved from Sin, and in His Victory over Death, Hell and the Grave by his Resurrection, I am saved.  Because I have acknowledged Him as my Sovereign Lord, I have been filled with the Holy Spirit of God and empowered to live according to His dictates, certainly not perfectly, but with a heart willing to be submitted to His correction and His refining, that I will be forever with Him in Heaven, eternally.

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16).  I have no idea what category you are in, but you're in one or the other.  The Good News is that by believing in Him as Savior and Lord, you can be in the first category.  Right now.

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [apostasy] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?”
• 2 Thessalonians 2:1–5

Perhaps there is a falling away from the true faith.  "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)  Perhaps that time is now.  So be it if it is.  "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)  I, too, know in whom I have believed.  If my church shrinks down to 10 members, my Eternal Fate has been decided at Calvary.  Of course, there have been great revivals at times when America's moral decline was at its most hideous.  It's happened time and time again, so who's to say that it won't happen in the next decade? 

Regardless if my local church rises or falls, or if my denomination rises or falls, the Church is the Body of Christ on Earth, and I am forever a part of this.  "I will built My Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)  That's Jesus, Himself; is He trash-talking?  Somehow, I doubt it.

[senyor_brownbear]

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) 

"Bad things will happen, until the Good Thing happens."

Basically all of fiction since 3000 BC

[Fuzzy Bear]

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) 

"Bad things will happen, until the Good Thing happens."

Basically all of fiction since 3000 BC

At least you're unequivocal about being an unbeliever.

[JA]

Institutional religion (particularly Christianity) has been in decline in the Western world since the development of capitalism and its consequent factors of industrialization, urbanization, and globalization. The disruptive socioeconomic forces unleashed by that system, to which Protestant Christianity has been fervently wedded for centuries, is, arguably, the primary culprit of the cultural changes that have made faith in and practice of Christianity feel meaningless and, often, disagreeable for an increasing number of people.

There is no turning back the clock for Christianity in the modern, Western world. The future of that religion lies in the Global South (Latin America, Africa, Asia, Oceania). To the extent it survives in Western Europe and the Anglo world will be as a set cultural relics - old customs, objects, and places that once held transcendent meaning, but are now bereft of any life save for anthropological curiosity. The decreasing number of adherents will have to form enclaves and focus on familial and group transmission of knowledge to perpetuate their living traditions within a generally indifferent-to-hostile society.

What happens to religious beliefs in a more general sense is an interesting question. There's no substantial evidence of some impressive growth in Atheistic/strictly materialistic beliefs. The overwhelming majority of people hold some religious ideas, whether it's expressed in an organized or eccentric/individualized fashion. The decline of Christianity has simply coincided with an increase in beliefs in the existence or supernatural power of cryptids, astrology, meditation, yoga, divination, "universal life force," and so on. Religion has simply taken a more individualized, disorganized, and esoteric form - which permits less obligations, moralism, and prescribed behavior as such belief systems lack any organization, hierarchy, or structure. That fits perfectly with our increasingly alienated and atomized lifestyles, but will only exacerbate the negative side effects of that lifestyle, namely depression, anxiety, and vulnerability to extremism.

Overall, the decline of Christianity offers positive benefits, such as improved quality of life and access to rights and resources for historically underprivileged and persecuted groups. It also allows society to adapt its moral values to new material and social conditions. However, it also exacerbates some of the most psychology harmful aspects of modernity - alienation. But, we're in new and uncharted territories that will allow us to shape our personal lives and communities in ways we hadn't been able to before.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I wonder what the numbers would be like if you included the nondenominational churches that are similar to Southern Baptists in their theology and organization (Baptists already being congregationalists whose churches may join in association rather than more formally connected denominations such as Presbyterians or Methodists).

[Indy Texas]

There is no turning back the clock for Christianity in the modern, Western world. The future of that religion lies in the Global South (Latin America, Africa, Asia, Oceania). To the extent it survives in Western Europe and the Anglo world will be as a set cultural relics - old customs, objects, and places that once held transcendent meaning, but are now bereft of any life save for anthropological curiosity. The decreasing number of adherents will have to form enclaves and focus on familial and group transmission of knowledge to perpetuate their living traditions within a generally indifferent-to-hostile society.

This is the view of the paleoconservative traditionalist Christian Rod Dreher, who wrote a book about that called The Benedict Option.

[Indy Texas]

I wonder what the numbers would be like if you included the nondenominational churches that are similar to Southern Baptists in their theology and organization (Baptists already being congregationalists whose churches may join in association rather than more formally connected denominations such as Presbyterians or Methodists).

I mean, if you were that similar to the SBC, why wouldn't you just join it or make some formal statement of affiliation?

Some of the nondenominational churches seem to be cases of "we're nondenominational because none of the denominations are right-wing crazy enough for us and we don't want to have to be held accountable to any national organization."

Others, fewer in number but often larger, are basically unabashedly capitalistic enterprises that provide entertainment to members and abundant cash flow to the clergy. Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church is a good example of this type.

[JA]

There is no turning back the clock for Christianity in the modern, Western world. The future of that religion lies in the Global South (Latin America, Africa, Asia, Oceania). To the extent it survives in Western Europe and the Anglo world will be as a set cultural relics - old customs, objects, and places that once held transcendent meaning, but are now bereft of any life save for anthropological curiosity. The decreasing number of adherents will have to form enclaves and focus on familial and group transmission of knowledge to perpetuate their living traditions within a generally indifferent-to-hostile society.

This is the view of the paleoconservative traditionalist Christian Rod Dreher, who wrote a book about that called The Benedict Option.

I'm well aware. I read TAC sometimes, so I know what he talks about.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

What happens to religious beliefs in a more general sense is an interesting question. There's no substantial evidence of some impressive growth in Atheistic/strictly materialistic beliefs. The overwhelming majority of people hold some religious ideas, whether it's expressed in an organized or eccentric/individualized fashion. The decline of Christianity has simply coincided with an increase in beliefs in the existence or supernatural power of cryptids, astrology, meditation, yoga, divination, "universal life force," and so on. Religion has simply taken a more individualized, disorganized, and esoteric form - which permits less obligations, moralism, and prescribed behavior as such belief systems lack any organization, hierarchy, or structure. That fits perfectly with our increasingly alienated and atomized lifestyles, but will only exacerbate the negative side effects of that lifestyle, namely depression, anxiety, and vulnerability to extremism.

I don't think a return to a Classical Antiquity-style decoupling of the moral and the numinous is something to celebrate at all, even apart from my own belief in Christianity, but (as much as I like to rag on people who take astrology seriously) I definitely feel more at home in the Tumblr witchcraft and strip-mall psychic age than I would in a hypothetical age of rigorous rationalism. Are you familiar with the Matthew Arnold poem "Dover Beach"?

[Fuzzy Bear]

I wonder what the numbers would be like if you included the nondenominational churches that are similar to Southern Baptists in their theology and organization (Baptists already being congregationalists whose churches may join in association rather than more formally connected denominations such as Presbyterians or Methodists).

I mean, if you were that similar to the SBC, why wouldn't you just join it or make some formal statement of affiliation?

Some of the nondenominational churches seem to be cases of "we're nondenominational because none of the denominations are right-wing crazy enough for us and we don't want to have to be held accountable to any national organization."

Others, fewer in number but often larger, are basically unabashedly capitalistic enterprises that provide entertainment to members and abundant cash flow to the clergy. Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church is a good example of this type.

Sad to say, the highlighted is often true.  The lack of accountability of any kind to a national organization is, by and large, not a good thing.  Although the Southern Baptist Convention is a very loosely held together organization; its churches have Congregational government.  I currently attend an SBC church, but until recently, I attended a church that was part of the Church of God/Cleveland, TN, which is very much a top-down denomination.

Joel Osteen takes a lot of unnecessary flak, however.  He takes no salary from his church, and his income is derived from his book sales.  His church has a significant staff of Pastors on staff.

Many preachers take swipes at him from the pulpit, including my most recent ex-pastor.  Much of this is coated in jealousy; his messages are NOT "prosperity preaching" and they are Biblically sound.  A megachurch such as Lakewood isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it doesn't deserve the criticism it does.  My hypocritical former pastor took swipes at Joel Osteen, but he cut back all of the church's ministry activities and closed its Christian Daycare to ensure that he'd still get HIS $116K annual compensation package.  (Few know it, but when they give to my former church pretty much all of their money goes to the Pastor, personally, aside from the monies that go to keep the building up.)  My wife and I have left that body.  What is sad for me is that this man (whom I had reservations about from the beginning; I was one of only three that opposed his appointment) turned out to be everything I sensed he was, which is, frankly, just about everything most Atlas Red Avatars think Evangelical Pastors are all about.

I do wish to emphasize that this man is not typical of pastors we know.  We stayed as long as we did because we had a ministry burden for the dwindling number of children that were there, for the school (which my wife worked at), and for some of the older couples there whom we have ministered to.  Our present pastor is "normal" and not a hypocrite.