Half of SBC churches could die, Page says

The Southern Baptist Convention is rapidly dying, and resistance to change could kill over half of the denomination’s churches by 2030, the outgoing SBC president said May 1.

Unless something is done to reverse the downward trend, Southern Baptist churches could number only 20,000 — down from the current total of more than 44,000 — in fewer than 22 years, South Carolina pastor Frank Page said.

Page said the problem "resided in the churches" that refuse to change to stop their inevitable demise. He said the SBC downturn is not the denomination’s fault — because of poor programming or lack of emphasis on the denominational level.

Rather than embracing a "whatever it takes" mentality to change and restore a local church to health, Page said, many pastors and churches have "chosen to die rather than change, and they are doing it."

Page said the vision of pastors must be biblical, firm and resolute, or else when they face "the horizon of trouble, their vision is the first thing out the window." Pastors must stay the course or risk being blown off course by the trials that accompany any change in any church, Page emphasized. (ABP)