For the second straight year, baptisms and giving increased among Southern Baptist congregations. In-person worship service and small group attendance also rebounded, but total membership and the number of congregations slid. The Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by Lifeway Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions paints a complicated picture for the Southern Baptist Convention but contains some positive news. […]
Growing number of pastors endorsing candidates away from church
Few pastors make political endorsements from the pulpit, but a growing number publicly back candidates when they step away from their church role. Among U.S. Protestant pastors, 1% say they have publicly endorsed a candidate for public office during a church service this year, while 98% have not, according to a new study from Nashville-based […]
Survey: Most churches meeting, but few back to pre-COVID attendance
Nashville, Tenn. | The majority of U.S. churches say they are holding in-person services, but churchgoers have yet to attend in the numbers they did before the coronavirus pandemic struck. According to the latest survey from LifeWay Research, 87% of Protestant pastors in the U.S. say their church met in person in September, while 13% […]
Southern Baptists face largest membership decline in 100 years
A growing number of Southern Baptist churches are home to a shrinking number of Southern Baptists. Total membership in the Southern Baptist Convention fell almost 2% to 14,525,579 from 2018 to 2019, according to the Annual Church Profile compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. The decline of 287,655 members is […]