Annual Church Profile shows GBC posting numerous gains

DULUTH — The latest report card on the Georgia Baptist Convention shows substantial gains in most ministries and a drop in only three areas. The annual feedback from Georgia Baptist churches is a considerable reverse from the previous year’s accounting that posted drops virtually across the board.

The preliminary report for the 2008 church year shows that the Convention remains on the same plateau it has settled on for the past few years. But the good news is that it is not declining, as is becoming common in other denominations.

As Tom Crites of the GBC’s Research Services Ministries observed, it would be far more desirable to be growing, but in the current scenario a plateau is better than a valley. The challenge for Georgia Baptists remains finding a way off that plateau and making it to the mountaintop.

“We were admittedly down in some areas but are up in some foundational areas that show prospects for a bright future. Those are the areas that are important to future growth and are showing a good bit of life and growth,” he explained.

Discipleship Training, Vacation Bible School, Mission Project participation, Woman’s Missionary Union, and Men’s Ministries all posted strong gains. Areas that did not do as well were total membership, Women’s Enrichment Ministry, and Sunday School. See accompanying chart for a detailed comparison.

“Those are areas of good foundational growth that point to a more positive future. When you have more laity being trained in sharing their faith and becoming personally involved in missions, it gives good cause for optimism,” Crites added.

In a nutshell the report showed:

• New church starts posted a small gain of 32 for the year ending September 1, 2008. That brought the total to 3,604, up .9 percent.

• Total membership dropped 8,735, or .63 percent, to 1,382,764.

• Number of baptisms increased slightly by 73, or .23 percent, to 31,825.

• Average worship attendance posted a slight gain of 720, or .13 percent, to 542,657.

• Music Ministry enrollment showed a drop of 1,277, or .8 percent, to 159,149.

• Sunday School enrollment dropped 13,025, or 1.73 percent, to 739,061.

• Discipleship Training increased 11,103, or 7.19 percent, to 165,471.

• VBS enrollment increased 1,513, or .54 percent, to 279,619.

• Mission Project Participation jumped 4,321, or 3.17 percent, to 140,726.

• WMU involvement increased 2,837, or 3.2 percent, to 91,377.

• Other Women’s Enrichment Ministries declined 15,290, or 15.08 percent, to 86,133.

• Men’s Ministries/Brotherhood jumped 15,546, or 21.24 percent, to 88,744.

In the area of finances, as the nation came to grips with the fact that it was entering a major recession, giving was down in 8 of 10 areas.

• Total receipts were down $16,183,660, or 1.49 percent, to $1,069,246,645.

• Undesignated receipts were down $5,282,260, or .61 percent, to $860,326,621.

• Designated receipts dropped $8,550,926, or 4.87 percent, to $167,075,889.

• Other receipts showed a decline of $2,350,474, or 5.32 percent, to $41,844,135.

• Cooperative Program gifts dropped $962,811, or 1.94 percent, to $48,546,244.

• Associational Missions gifts declined $230,454, or 2.12 percent, to $11,083,019.

• State Missions gifts were down $130,805, or 8.57 percent, to $1,395,990.

Missions giving to national causes, such as North American and international missions, were not spared in the tightened economic environment.

• Giving to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions dropped $677,429, or 11.51 percent, to $5,208,811.

• Support for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions slid $1,708,104, or 13.56 percent, to $10,889,366.

Each year churches are given the opportunity to respond to a special question for which the GBC is seeking more detailed information. This year the question was “Approximately how many people became new believers through the efforts of your church last year?”

The answer was surprising, Crites admitted.

“Churches reported about 83,000 conversions through their varied ministries in 2008. The downside is that they only reported 31,825 baptisms, or 37 percent of those who made professions of faith. Our task now is to help move those churches with lower baptism numbers to implementing a strategy to do a better job of assimilating and discipling those new believers,” he explained.

The only unknown in that equation is where those conversions occurred. For example, if they were registered on an international mission trip the church would not be able to do an adequate job of discipling and baptizing the new believers. But if they occurred within Georgia it would be easier to have a follow-up program.

“If we did a better job in baptizing just half of those individuals our state baptism totals would jump by 10,000, a considerable increase,” Crites added. “We obviously are doing a better job than we thought were doing in reaching the unchurched but are falling down in the area of discipleship.”

One of the surprising decreases in 2008 was Sunday School enrollment, which dropped 13,025, or 1.73 percent, to 739,061. That has reversed several years of strong gains.

Steve Parr, vice president for Sunday School and Evangelism, said he applauded Georgia Baptists for a decade of exceptional growth in Sunday School, which bucked the national trend. However, he was perplexed at the one-year decline.

“Some leaders are not as committed to Sunday School as they once were and I think we may be seeing some of that reflected in the numbers but it’s really too early to tell. One year does not make a trend and we have clearly been a strong state in Sunday School enrollment.

“The good thing about annual reporting like we do in the ACP is to get a ‘heads-up’ about declines so we can closely monitor them. It’s a fact that you cannot decline in enrollment and grow in attendance. What is disturbing is that the 2008 numbers show that we ministered to fewer people than in the previous year, and that should concern us.

“What I am thankful for is that the 2008 ACP showed our baptisms were up for the second consecutive year, if only by 73. We have reported higher numbers in the past but we are glad to see this increase.”

In responding to the special ACP question regarding conversions, Parr said he was very pleased with the 83,000 figure but it showed the need to help churches develop better approaches in assimilation and discipleship.

“Baptism is certainly not the end of the conversion process, it’s the beginning of the discipleship process. That question showed that we are not baptizing 5 out of 8 professions of faith and we need to close that gap.

While Woman’s Missionary Union showed an increase of 2,837, or 3.20 percent, its sister area of Other Women’s Enrichment Ministry posted a decline of 15,290, or 15.08 percent. WMU Executive-Director Barbara Curnutt said she sees some ways WMU and Sunday School are similar in how they are accounted for and how WEM participation is more difficult to nail down.

“Sunday School and WMU are ‘apples and apples’ – they are both concrete organizations with membership rolls that are fairly easy to document, but WEM is not membership based. It means different things in different churches so there is no uniform way of accounting for participation in any one year,” she stated.

“Initially we were just letting churches define their own WEM approach and we did not feel we were getting an accurate representation of true involvement. The questions we are now asking are not as opened-ended but more specific.

“If you go back for several years you’ll see the vast fluctuation in how those numbers are reported as churches struggle with what is a WEM and what is not,” she explained. “Hopefully we’re moving toward getting a more clear picture of how we define this discipleship ministry for women.”

Curnutt said she is grateful that the ACP did show the second consecutive year of growth in WMU participation.

Discipleship Training posted an unusually strong growth of 11,103. Dennis Rogers, who oversees the ministry area for Georgia Baptists, attributed it to the ongoing education of churches to see the area as something that occurs not just in Sunday School but throughout the week in various of settings.

“We think we are seeing more churches that are embracing discipleship as an intentional process and not just a structured program, and that’s good,” he said.

 

Preliminary Comparison of Annual Church Profiles, 2007-2008
	2007	2008	Net	Pct
Number of Churches (as of September 1, 2008)	3,572	3,604	32	0.90%
Total Membership	1,391,499	1,382,764	-8,735	-0.63%
Number of Baptisms	31,752	31,825	73	0.23%
Average Worship Attendance	541,937	542,657	720	0.13%
Sunday School Enrollment	752,086	739,061	-13,025	-1.73%
Total Discipleship Training Enrollment & Participation	154,368	165,471	11,103	7.19%
Vacation Bible School Enrollment	278,106	279,619	1,513	0.54%
Mission Project Participation	136,405	140,726	4,321	3.17%
WMU Involvement	88,540	91,377	2,837	3.20%
Other Women’s Enrichment Ministries	101,423	86,133	-15,290	-15.08
Men’s Ministries/Brotherhood Enrollment	73,198	88,744	15,546	21.24%