The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
Why Southern Baptists Are Shrinking—And What It Means for Your Church
Church membership in Southern Baptist churches has hit a 50-year low while attendance is actually increasing, revealing a complex picture of modern church engagement. This paradoxical trend isn't limited to Baptist churches but represents a broader shift occurring across evangelical churches nationwide.
• Membership in SBC churches dropped below 13 million (down 2% in one year)
• Weekly attendance increased by almost 6% despite membership decline
• Baptisms surged by nearly 26%, showing spiritual vitality beneath the numbers
• Financial giving rose by almost 10%, indicating strong commitment
• These trends suggest a need to redefine what "connected" and "committed" mean
• Churches may need to develop new pathways to belonging beyond traditional membership
• Traditional metrics of "butts, bucks, and buildings" may be less relevant than discipleship indicators
• Leaders should view this as an inflection point rather than a crisis
• The key is to measure what truly matters - life transformation and disciple-making
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Okay, today's podcast we're going to talk to our Southern Baptist friends and I'm not Southern Baptist, but I want to talk about a recent life. We studied that came out, that talked about some of the trends in the Southern Baptist Convention, and it turns out that church membership is down pretty significantly, I think, at least statistically but weekend attendance is up. We're going to talk about this new data from the SBC that really paints a somewhat complex picture of church health in the convention in 2025. And while the headlines scream decline, there's a little bit more going on under the surface and it matters for your church, whether you're SBC or not, and we're going to talk about that today right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at Chemistry Staffing and your host here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. So what have I told you? That while church membership is falling in the Southern Baptist Convention, sunday morning attendance is actually going up, head scratcher, right. That's exactly what's happening in the SBC according to the newest Lifeway research, and it could be a glimpse into the future of your church too, even if you're not Baptist or a part of the SBC. So we're going to talk about some of these numbers today, and I've got really about three points that I want to, or actually, no, I've got five points today, wow, that I'm going to talk about that have to do with some of this new information that's coming out and how it might affect your church in the future. All right.
Speaker 1:So the first point is that membership is absolutely declining, but that's not the whole story, all right. So over the past year, southern Baptist membership dropped below 13 million and that's almost a two percent dip from the previous year. Two percent in one year and it's the lowest in over 50 years. That's concerning, right, but let's not stop there, because at the same time, weekly attendance increased by almost 6% in SBC churches. So what's going on there? Here's the truth Fewer people are becoming official members of churches, and that could be because some churches just don't push official church membership as much as they used to, but more people are showing up regularly and this just isn't a trend across the Southern Baptist world. It's happening across evangelical churches. So it's a reminder that we need to kind of redefine what we mean by connected or committed.
Speaker 1:The second thing that this study found is that baptisms and giving are actually up and that matters, despite the declining membership. Baptisms overall, this is stunning. This is actual LifeWay data. I believe it's true. At least that's what they found in their study. Baptisms up nearly 26%. Let that sink in. People still meeting Jesus taking that next step even though the leading membership indicator is down. Financial giving up nearly 10%. That's not the behavior of a dying church or a dying movement. These are signs of spiritual vitality that Lifeway found, but not only if we're looking beyond outdated scorecards.
Speaker 1:Okay, so maybe God is growing something deeper, not just bigger, maybe, maybe we need to stop I've been saying this for a while Stop counting just butts and bucks in buildings. For years that's what most churches have been obsessed with how many people showed up on Sunday? How much money came in for the week? How big is our building compared to everybody else? Maybe the real questions should be the real metrics, the real accountability measures should be are we making disciples? Are people growing and taking their next step in their faith? Are lives being transformed?
Speaker 1:The Lifeway article really talks about the findings is that the metrics aren't the enemy, but we need to know what's the most important and we need to count what matters most. So in many churches. We just need to rethink engagement From attenders to active disciples. This trend tells us something important People may not be rushing to join, but they are showing up and they are engaging and they are giving. So maybe we need some new pathways into belonging that don't start with a clipboard and a membership class. How are you helping your attenders take steps toward meaningful spiritual growth, because that's what we're seeing increases in? And is there a way that you could track engagement through service or groups or prayer, rather than just sign up sheets or how many people are there on Sunday morning?
Speaker 1:Okay, as we close out today, so this isn't the end, it's an inflection point. Yes, institutional Christianity is changing. It's always changing. It's been changing for thousands of years. Okay, a couple thousand years now, but the gospel does not change and this data doesn't signal the death of a church or the SBC. It's a wake-up call, though, for leaders, sbc leaders, non-sbc leaders. It's a wake-up call to innovate and refocus and pastor wisely in, dare I say it, a post-church membership age.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's the takeaway for today. This isn't a crisis, but it is a crossroads. You've got to lead with clarity, you've got to measure what matters, and maybe you're measuring something that doesn't matter. Measure what matters, and you need to pastor and shepherd with hope. I hope this kind of reframing your thinking hit home with you today. Maybe I've put to words something you've been thinking for a while, but I'd love to hear your feedback.
Speaker 1:You can reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. If there's any way that I or anybody on our team here at Chemistry can help you with staff hires or staff fires or anything that has to do with building that healthy church staff culture. Maybe you're stuck. You just don't know what to do. Next, reach out to me. I'd love to connect with you. We can hop on a Zoom call and discover how we might be able to help. Come alongside and help your church. So, podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I'm here when you need me. I'm here even when you don't. All right, I hope you have a great day. This is Friday. So if you're listening to this on the day it came out on Friday, I hope you have a great weekend. We'll be right back here ready for you on Monday with a brand new episode of the Healthy Church Dad Podcast. Have a great day, you.
