SBC missions giving rises; baptisms fall
Southern Baptists gave 2.3 percent more to missions last year, but they lost members and baptized the fewest number of people since 1987. Total giving to missions reached $1.36 billion in 2008. Offsetting the rise in giving, however, was the fourth consecutive year of decline in baptisms. Southern Baptists recorded 342,198 baptisms in 2008, a drop of 1.1 percent from the previous year. The figures were reported in the denomination’s Annual Church Profile, the yearly statistical report compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in conjunction with 42 Baptist state conventions. The number of baptisms is regarded as a key measurement of the Southern Baptist Convention’s overall effectiveness in evangelism. Total SBC membership fell by 38,482, or 0.2 percent last year, to 16,228,438. Sunday school enrollment dropped 123,817, or 1.6 percent, to 7,752,794. The total number of churches increased by 152 to 44,848, for a .34 percent gain. Primary worship attendance rose 35,449 to 6,184,317, an increase of .58 percent.
Page responds to stem cell draft guidelines
The Obama administration’s draft guidelines on funding embryonic stem cell research issued by the National Institutes of Health April 17 limit federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to experiments with human embryos stored at fertility clinics. The rules would restrict grants to studies on embryos produced by in vitro fertilization and donated by couples who no longer want them and voluntarily provide their written consent. The guidelines exclude funding for research on embryos created for experimentation by IVF or cloning. South Carolina Baptist pastor Frank Page, who serves as an advisor on President Obama’s Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, issued a statement in which he said that while the draft regulations are not what he and other pro-life leaders would wish, “at least it does reduce the possibility of the creation of human life for the purpose of destruction and then research, at least to some degree.”
Wilton named to SBC Resolutions Committee
Don Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, has been named by SBC president Johnny Hunt to the Resolutions Committee to serve during the June 23-24 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Louisville, Ky. Hunt named Daniel Akin of North Carolina as committee chairman. Akin is president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest. Proposed resolutions may be submitted as early as April 15 but no later than 15 days prior to the SBC annual meeting. Resolutions may no longer be submitted during the annual meeting.
Young adults consider themselves spiritual
There’s a surprising new description for unchurched young adults in the United States: spiritual. Despite the conventional wisdom that young people aren’t interested in spiritual matters, newly released survey data from LifeWay Research and the Center for Missional Research at the North American Mission Board shows the opposite to be true. According to the study, 73 percent of unchurched 20- to 29-year-old Americans consider themselves “spiritual” because they want to know more about “God or a higher supreme being.” That figure is 11 percent higher than among unchurched individuals who are age 30 and older. The survey data was released in the book “Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches That Reach Them” by Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes and released by the B&H Publishing Group, the publishing arm of LifeWay Christian Resources. “Our hope is that this research will propel church leaders forward in their efforts to reach this generation,” said Hayes, a young adult ministry specialist at LifeWay.
Obama tax proposal shouldn’t hurt churches
President Obama’s proposal to reduce the tax deductions that wealthy Americans can claim for their charitable donations should not affect Southern Baptist churches, according to Warren Peek, president of the Southern Baptist Foundation. Under Obama’s budget proposal, the tax deduction for those with incomes of more than $250,000 would be reduced from 35 cents for each dollar donated to 28 cents, returning the rate to where it was during the Reagan administration. Peek said churches that rely on the support of tithing believers should not fear the proposed policy because such people understand the principle of stewardship that God owns everything and they are simply giving back a portion – typically 10 percent – of the money they’ve been given. Obama’s tax proposal, though, surely will affect charitable giving from those who don’t subscribe to the principle of tithing and simply want a tax break, Peek said.
SBC preschool, children’s registration underway
Registration is open for families to enroll their children in preschool childcare or the children’s conference June 21-24 in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Louisville, Ky. For all information regarding registration, visit www.sbc.net and click on “2009 SBC Annual Meeting” then “Children/Students.”
SBTS creates church ministries school
Southern Baptist Seminary’s trustees have approved the creation of a new school combining the School of Church Music and Worship with the School of Leadership and Church Ministry to better meet the changing needs of local congregations. The new School of Church Ministries, approved by trustees April 21, aims to better equip church staff members who fill such positions as music minister or youth pastor and increasingly are carrying additional roles in local congregations.
New Orleans distance-learning M.Div. approved
New Orleans Baptist Seminary trustees have approved a new distance-learning track in the master of divinity program and other initiatives designed to make theological education more accessible. The move essentially makes the seminary’s Online Learning Center an extension center. The result is a fully accredited master of divinity degree program that requires only 30 hours of on-campus credit. The rest of the coursework may be taken through Internet courses or a combination of Internet and extension center courses.
No tuition increases at Southwestern
Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Seminary approved the administration’s proposed 2009-10 annual budget, which included no tuition increases for the upcoming academic year, during their April 8 meeting at the Fort Worth, Tex., campus. “Given the sacrifices many students are having to make during this time of economic uncertainty,” Southwestern president Paige Patterson said, “the board of trustees and the seminary administration felt they needed to do all they could to enable present and future students of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to continue their studies.”
Pastors split on whether global warming man-made
A LifeWay Research telephone survey of 1,002 randomly selected Protestant pastors, conducted in October 2008, discovered that pastors are evenly split about whether global warming is real and man-made. Asked to indicate their level of agreement with the statement, “I believe global warming is real and man-made,” pastors split down the middle: 47 percent agree either strongly or somewhat, while 47 percent disagree either strongly or somewhat. The remainder indicate “don’t know.” The differences of opinion, however, are seen more sharply when analyzed in relation to a pastor’s denominational affiliation. Seventy-five percent of pastors in mainline denominations agree global warming is real and man-made, but only 32 percent of pastors in evangelical denominations agree.
WMU Foundation awards to boost missions work
The WMU Foundation board of trustees awarded $163,445 to boost missions work in North America and around the world during their meeting, March 30-31, at the WMU Foundation office in Birmingham, Ala. Of the total amount, $75,000 was awarded from the Vision Fund to support the ministries of national WMU, and $50,000 was awarded from the Joy Fund to support the operational needs of the national missions organization, also based in Birmingham. An additional $38,445 was awarded in grants, scholarships to children of missionaries, and other awards, including two grants from the Lillian Isaacs Endowment to support literacy missions.
Church finds ‘green’ ways to save money
More than a year ago, First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark., which has about 6,000 attendees on Sunday mornings, began a partnership with the company Energy Education to cut into its electric, gas and water bills – a significant endeavor because the church was spending roughly $1 million annually on its utility bills for its two campuses and its private school. In the ensuing year, the church didn’t do anything dramatic, but simply tried to take commonsense approaches to saving energy: switching off lights when not in use, turning off computers when leaving for the day and paying close attention to thermostat settings, particularly Monday through Saturday. The result? The church estimates it saved $268,000 during the first year of its initiative.