Dr. Shane Posted June 12, 2008 Posted June 12, 2008 Southern Baptists worried by decline in baptisms The number of people baptised in Southern Baptist churches and ceremonies, an important indicator of conversions and denominational growth, fell in 2007 for the third year in a row by 5 per cent to 345,941... Several delegates interviewed by Reuters expressed their concern in such terms: fewer baptisms meant fewer saved souls. For Southern Baptists, a public baptism in water is a key rite of the conversion experience. The trend of falling baptisms also has broader cultural and political implications as the 16-million member SBC is a big part of the Republican Party's conservative Christian base. Twenty-five per cent of US adults now count themselves as "born-again" or evangelical Christians, making the movement one of the fastest growing and most influential in America. A slowdown in its growth could have a ripple effect on politics and other areas of American life. Several Southern Baptists interviewed took it as an unhealthy sign of "weakness" or misguided attempts to find accommodation with the broader secular culture that some regard as corrupting and even satanic. [text taken from link] Quote Pastoral Family Counselor... Find me at www.PostumCafe.com Author of Peculiar Christianity
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