Baptism Numbers Plummet Among Baptists

Baptists have a baptism Problem. This spring, leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention released the findings of a report on the decline in baptisms within the denomination. Their numbers indicate that from 1999 to 2012 (the latest year of the study), baptisms fell by nearly 25 percent in Baptist churches across the country. The report also found 25 percent of Baptist churches didn’t report a single baptism the entire year. And the numbers for millennials were even worse. Nearly 80 percent of Baptist churches reported one or fewer baptisms of people between the ages of 18-29. The research cited a number of reasons for the decline (leadership issues, spiritual priorities, etc.), but admitted, “We are not being effective in winning and discipling the next generation to follow Christ.”