Nashville | Did the Great Commission Resurgence accomplish its goal of reversing the decline of baptisms in the Southern Baptist Convention?
According to the final report from a task force commissioned to answer that question, “the answer is a clear and decisive, No.” Where the blame lies is complicated, but there is plenty to go around, the task force said.
The GCR Evaluation Task Force (not to be confused with 2009/2010’s Great Commission Resurgence Task Force) was formed with the approval of messengers to the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans to study the impact, if any, of the adoption of the recommendations put forth by the original GCR Task Force in 2010.
“Jay Adkins and his team of scholars and analysts have met more than 20 times since the Southern Baptist Convention last convened in New Orleans,” said SBC President Bart Barber.
“They have taken their work very seriously, and we are indebted to them. Ultimately, God has entrusted the Great Commission to the churches, and the task of implementing it belongs to us all. Praise God for recent data that reveal our increasing faithfulness to do so.” Barber was referring to last week’s release of statistics showing an uptick in church attendance and baptisms in the SBC.
Adkins, the group’s chairman, posted May 12 on X that their work had been a “monumental task.”
Read the rest of the article at BPnews.net.