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Numbers may be down, but prospects are up

Numbers may be down, but prospects are up

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Numbers may be down, but prospects are up

A leader in the SBC says he's not too concerned about the denomination's drop in membership.

According to data compiled by author and researcher Ryan Burge, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has lost more than 3.5 million members since 2006.

For context, the entire Assemblies of God has 2.98 million members, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) only has 2.9 million members total.

Land, Dr. Richard Land

The decline follows decades of explosive growth, when SBC membership climbed from about six million to 16 million in 60 years. Dr. Richard Land, president emeritus of Southern Evangelical Seminary, says the Baby Boom was a big part of that.

"Southern Baptists had a lot of babies between 1946 and 1964," he notes. "There were kids everywhere."

That started to change sometime in the '60s.

"When you go from having four children to having two children or having one child, you're not growing as many familial converts into your denomination," Dr. Land reasons.

Now, even though membership is down, he sees some positive trends.

"I'm concerned about it, but at the same time, I'm also comforted by the fact that … attendance and baptisms have gone up," the Southern Baptist relays.

As AFN has reported, more men are regularly reading the Bible, and Land says recent polls show that young men are flocking to the SBC.

"That's a revolutionary thing, and I think it portends well for the future," he submits. "As they form families and they become the spiritual leaders of their families, they will bring their wives and their children to church."

In general, masculinity has been under attack in recent years, but evangelical churches, including those within the SBC, are increasingly ministering to men, providing programs and resources to engage younger generations.

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