Membership among Southern Baptists has fallen slightly for the sixth straight year. The nation's largest Protestant denomination released in-house statistics yesterday showing that total membership dropped .66% in 2012. The annual report prepared by the Southern Baptist Convention's Lifeway Christian Resources and reported by the Baptist Press news service says there were 105,000 fewer Baptists in 2012 than the year before. Baptisms fell by 5.5% after a slight increase in 2011. That's considered a particularly important measure of growth for a denomination committed to evangelism. The Southern Baptist Convention did add some 270 individual churches in 2012. And the Nashville-based denomination still has nearly 16 million members.
Southern Baptist Ranks Dip Again As Baptisms Fall
