Illinois Baptist mission
My big inheritance
Table talk with Doug Munton P. 13
Start here Guatemala brothers P. 10
NATE ADAMS
Right at home With ‘my people’ P. 2
SBC NEWS
Abuse indictment
How VBS opens doors for the gospel P. 11 PLUS: Improve connections with follow-up
Former SWBTS provost charged with falsifying records P. 4
INDY PREVIEW
June Convention Messengers head east P. 5-7
SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
IB Membership below 13 million IllinoisBaptist.org
News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association
JUNE 1, 2024
Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 325
Vol. 118 No. 6
The Priority of Hope P. 8
But baptisms and attendance are up Nashville, Tenn. | A new report on improved attendance at Southern Baptist Churches is a mixed bag with a net loss in members, dropping the nation’s largest protestant denomination below 13 million for the first time. On any given Sunday in 2023, just over 4 million people were in attendance at SBC churches. The tally of Annual Church Profiles calls that good news. The report, always released just ahead of the SBC Annual Meeting in June, is also being cited as evidence of the ongoing failure of the Great Commission Resurgence attempt make the denomination more effective, which began in 2010. A separate report on the impact of the GCR was released May 16. That report is one of two to be discussed at
RELATED: Two reports on SBC study groups P. 5
the Annual Meeting in Indianapolis June 11-12. (See story on page 5.) Even as the numbers were released, Baptist Press was saying the declines were probably attributable to parallel declines in the number of churches reporting. Only 69% of SBC churches submitted an Annual Church Profile (ACPs), in strong contrast to Illinois, where 98% submitted an ACP to the state convention. Lifeway Research projected that worship attendance was probably closer to 4.6 million, rather than 4 million, because of underreporting. The part-time nature of worship attendance these days means the cumulative total of people who attend SBC churches could be 7 million, SBC President Bart Barber stated. “The solemn nighttime hours of the pandemic gave way to the morning after all,” Barber said. Increases in worship and Sunday school attendance were bright spots, P. 3
Monday is dessert night! Illinois reception in Indy June 10 @ 8 p.m. Room 143