SBC Urges Church Planting

The Christian Post has an article on their website detailing how the Southern Baptist Convention is planning a church planting day “to raise awareness among congregants on the need to plant churches in light of declining numbers in the United States.”

The article is titled SBC Urges Members to Combat U.S. Church Decline. 

Some clips:

The overall number of membership of all Protestant denominations in America has declined over the last ten years by 9.5 percent, while the national population has increased by 11 percent.

Church building-wise, there were 29 churches for every 10,000 Americans in 1900; 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans in 1950; 12 churches for every 10,000 in 2000; and only 11 churches for every 10,000 in 2004, according to NAMB statistics.

Church planting is widely accepted by Christian denominations, especially Southern Baptists, to be the single most effective way to evangelize.

Meacham highlighted that a three-year-old church is only half as effective at reaching people for Christ as in its early days, while a 15 years old church is only one-third as effective. He explained that new churches reach more new people while an older church reaches more established people.