By Aaron Earls INDIANAPOLIS — Addressing the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention, Lifeway President and CEO Ben Mandrell shared the organization’s focus on serving church leaders and answered four key questions messengers may have. Mandrell referenced leaving the pastorate five years ago to helm Lifeway and quoted from James Frost, the founding president of the organization, who … [Read more...]
Southern Baptists decline in membership, grow in attendance, baptisms
By Aaron Earls BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — For the second straight year, baptisms and giving increased among Southern Baptist congregations. In-person worship service and small group attendance also rebounded, but total membership and the number of congregations slid. The Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by Lifeway Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state … [Read more...]
Multisite church identification shift can help strengthen SBC ties
By Aaron Earls and Carol Pipes NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Southern Baptist Convention is built upon relationships between local churches, associations, state conventions and national entities. A new change to church tracking could help strengthen those relationships and provide more information to better reach communities with the gospel. A growing trend in the … [Read more...]
SBC Pastor Salaries Not Keeping Pace With Inflation
By Carol Pipes NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Compensation for full-time Southern Baptist pastors and church staff has lagged behind the growth in the cost-of-living over the past two years. And health insurance coverage remains low, according to the 2018 SBC Church Compensation Study. The biannual study is a joint project of state Baptist conventions, GuideStone Financial Resources … [Read more...]
Lifeway breakfast points way forward despite denominational challenges
By Aaron Earls DALLAS (BP) -- Is our denomination dying? That was the question posed at the Lifeway Christian Resources breakfast held during the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Dallas. Attendees may have been surprised to hear Lifeway President and CEO Thom S. Rainer say yes, the Southern Baptist Convention is dying. But they also heard him lay … [Read more...]
