Southern Baptists’ Membership Decline Continues
In 2024, the Southern Baptist Convention baptized more new members than in any of the previous seven years but still saw an 18th consecutive year of overall membership decline.
The 12,722,266 members of Southern Baptist congregations mark a 2% decline from 2023, according to the Annual Church Profile compiled by Lifeway Research in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. However, more than a quarter of a million baptisms (250,643) represent a more than 10% jump over 2023 and the most since 2017.
Additionally, congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention experienced growth in total worship attendance and small group or Sunday School participation. In 2024, an average of more than 4.3 million people worshiped weekly in a Southern Baptist congregation, and more than 2.5 million participated in a small group Bible study each week. Both of those were up more than 5% compared to 2023.
“Southern Baptists love to focus on evangelism, and these ACP numbers back that up,” said Jeff Iorg, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee. “We rejoice that God is using Southern Baptist churches to reach people with the gospel. We celebrate the upward trends in baptisms that we haven’t seen in the past 30 years. These ACP results help us see that God is at work among Southern Baptists.”
The Convention has 30 fewer churches, dropping from 46,906 in 2023 to 46,876 in 2024. This decline includes those that closed and those that still exist but are no longer affiliated with the SBC. Church-type missions also declined, dropping from 2,474 to 2,321.
Not all state conventions collect data on giving, but among those that do, undesignated receipts fell by less than 5%, totaling more than $9.5 billion. Mission expenditures through Southern Baptist avenues remained almost flat at $791 million, a less than 1% decline from 2023.
Another statistic gathered by some, but not all, state conventions is participation in Vacation Bible School. More than 1.5 million participants were enrolled in various churches across the Convention.
In addition to state conventions not asking all the questions, some Southern Baptist churches do not participate in the annual census. In 2024, 69% of churches reported at least one item. The last time the percentage was higher than 70% was five years ago—75% in 2019.
“The declines in the totals for undesignated receipts and VBS enrollment are both due to not all state conventions asking these items,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Similar to worship attendance and baptisms, VBS enrollment has rebounded each year since COVID.”
Membership declines
From 2023 to 2024, Southern Baptist congregations lost 259,824 members. The 2% decrease is similar to the 1.8% decline the previous year, both less than the at least 2.9% drops each of the previous three years, 2020-2022. At 12,722,266 members, the Southern Baptist Convention is smaller than it has been since 1974.
“The largest portion of membership declines come from churches acknowledging that certain members are gone for good and removing their names. Other drops come from churches that close or leave the Convention,” said McConnell. “Newcomers to the entrances of churches definitely help, but membership will continue to decline as long as the exits remain active.”
Ten states are home to at least half a million Southern Baptists: Texas (2,409,860), Georgia (1,135,843), Tennessee (1,083,684), Alabama (933,549), North Carolina (884,663), Florida (764,853), South Carolina (602,129), Kentucky (520,424), Virginia (507,760) and Mississippi (502,416).
Baptism growth continues
For the first time since the late 1980s into the early 1990s, the Southern Baptist Convention saw four consecutive years of growth in baptisms. Not only have baptisms climbed out of pandemic levels, but the 2024 numbers also topped the last pre-pandemic year—2019. Southern Baptist churches also added 173,156 other new members, which is similar to pre-pandemic numbers.
“We celebrate every baptism and every new life in Christ. It’s encouraging to see these numbers continue to move upward,” said Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board. “I’m grateful for all the pastors who are keeping evangelism at the center of their mission and for what they are doing to encourage new believers to make a public profession of faith through baptism. As Southern Baptists stay focused on the gospel and are faithful to share it, I know we will see God work and these numbers will continue to rise.”
The five state conventions with the most baptisms in 2024 were exclusively in the South. The Florida Baptist Convention saw the most baptisms last year (30,701). The Georgia Baptist Mission Board baptized 25,651 people. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) experienced 20,526 baptisms, while the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) followed close behind with 20,170. Churches affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board saw 18,935 baptisms. Taking into account congregations aligned with both state conventions in Texas, Southern Baptist churches in the state baptized 28,619 people.
Most state conventions (31) increased baptisms compared to last year. The state conventions that experienced the largest numerical jump from 2023 to 2024 were mostly, but not exclusively, in the South, including the SBTC (+6,374), the BGCT (+5,228), Georgia Baptist Mission Board (+4,474), the California Southern Baptist Convention (+2,262) and the South Carolina Baptist Convention (+1,948). Combining the two conventions, Texas increased its total baptisms by 6,325.
However, the states with the largest percentage jumps in the number of baptisms from 2023 to 2024 were primarily from outside of the South, including the Wyoming Southern Baptist Convention (+63.7%), the SBTC (+45%), the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention (+42.1%), the Baptist Convention of New York (+38.3%) and the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana (+36%).
“Growth in baptisms continues to exceed trendlines before the pandemic,” said McConnell. “The slow return of pre-COVID worship attendees is largely over. Churches’ new attendees are now mostly new believers and those transferring from other churches.”
More people in church services and groups
In 2024, Southern Baptist-affiliated congregations drew an average of 253,957 more worshipers each week than the previous year, a 6.27% increase. The 4,304,625 weekly average is the highest since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The three straight years of worship attendance growth from 2021 to 2024 mark the first time the Convention has seen consecutive years of growth in more than a decade. While much of the growth can be attributed to rebounding from the significant declines during the pandemic, the percentage increases are some of the largest since the 1990s.
Five states averaged at least 300,000 people attending a Southern Baptist church each week: Texas (505,065), Florida (429,174), Georgia (370,212), North Carolina (353,610) and Tennessee (328,787).
Like the overall growth in average worship attendance, Southern Baptist congregations also continue to draw more people to their small group Bible studies or Sunday School. Compared to 2023, an average of 137,873 more people participated in small groups each week, climbing 5.68% to 2,567,048 in 2024.
The states that saw the most people participating in a small group each week include Texas (314,995), Georgia (236,938), Florida (233,863), Tennessee (194,482) and North Carolina (191,795).
For more information, view the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention statistical summary and the 2024 state convention statistics report.
Aaron Earls is the senior writer at Lifeway Research.