The Southern Baptist Convention reported a record membership of 16,315,050, up .41 percent over 2002, and grew to 43,024 churches, an increase of 249 new congregations, according to statistics released in the 2003 SBC Statistical Summary.
Alabama reported 3,233 churches, 1,131,854 total members and 794,108 resident members for 2003.
The statistics for 2003 were compiled from data submitted by churches on the Annual Church Profile (ACP). LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention compiles the ACP from reports routed through local Baptist associations and state conventions.
The number of new churches represented a .58 percent growth. Membership figures reflected a .41 percent growth. These figures are down from the 2002 growth percentages of 1.04 and 1.21, respectively. Although there was growth overall, LifeWay President Jimmy Draper said the statistics were cause for concern.
“The incremental growth to me reflects a denomination that’s lost its focus,” he said. “The Great Commission commands us to go into all the world and make disciples. Although we’ve seen tremendous strides in overseas baptisms, we are not keeping up with the population growth around the world nor in America.”
“The second trend I see is that we as a denomination have lost a sense of urgency in reaching people for Christ,” Draper said. “You can’t baptize those who have not been led to the Lord. We face some tremendous challenges from an increasingly secularized society and we’ve got to lead people to a saving faith in Christ if we are going to have a positive influence in our culture.”
Other statistics reported are:
Additions by means other than baptisms totaled 422,350, down 2.24 percent.
The number of church-type missions declined from 5,439 to 5,114, a 5.98 percent decrease.
Primary worship attendance in SBC churches was 5,873,880, a growth of .58 percent.
Overall giving grew by about 5 percent. Tithes, offerings and special gifts totaled $9,105,505,497, up 4.88 percent. This figure included $7,170,236,005 in undesignated receipts. When all other sources of income were added in, the total receipts reported by churches were $9,648,530,640, up by 1.98 percent.
Music ministry enrollment/participation grew by 2.63 percent, with a total of 1,701,848.
Sunday School enrollment grew by .24 percent, with a total of 8,193,886.
Discipleship Training enrollment was 2,001,560, a decrease of 4.72 percent.
Missions participation also showed a decrease: WMU enrollment fell by 11.52 percent to 852,205; men’s and boys missions education enrollment fell by 3.91 percent to 418,606.
Generosity had an upswing in 2003. Churches’ total missions expenditures were $1,102,363,842,* up 7.17 percent over last year.
Also reported on the 2003 ACP was the value of congregational property. This totaled $35,941,549,606.**
The number of state conventions increased by one, for a total of 40. Associations declined by .33 percent, totaling 1,194.
*South Carolina did not report this item in 2002.
**Kentucky did not report this data. (BP)
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