Southern Baptists Now Number 16.2 Million
The Southern Baptist Convention -- the nation’s largest Protestant group -- has reached a membership of 16.2 million, an all-time high, the denomination has announced.
In addition to the 1.2% growth in membership, the denomination also reported increases in local congregations (42,775) and missions (5,439).
However, there were slight declines in annual baptisms (394,893) and Sunday School enrollment (8,174,493).
Total financial receipts increased by 6.4% to $9.5 billion.
The statistics are compiled by the denomination from church reports received from local Baptist associations and state conventions.
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