“Fewer people in more churches baptizing less and giving more” is a synopsis of the 2006 statistical summary recently released by the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s business department, when compared with a similar report from 1996.
ALEXANDRIA – “Fewer people in more churches baptizing less and giving more” is a synopsis of the 2006 statistical summary recently released by the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s business department, when compared with a similar report from 1996.
The 2006 summary reflects totals from the Annual Church Profiles (ACPs) churches sent in last fall. Of the 1,560 congregations affiliated with LBC as of Aug. 31, 2006, all but 195 sent in an ACP.
“The ACP is a snapshot of a church’s ‘health’ at a point in time,” said Dale Lingenfelter, LBC business manager. “The information supplied by the churches helps communicate size, participation, and trends.
“The ACP also gives a church the immediate benefit of having a legal form of documentation for ‘proof of operations’ that is acceptable to banks and insurance companies. Also, the number of messengers for LBC and the SBC annual meetings is determined by the ACP data.”
The totals that follow in this article reflect only the churches that reported.
According to the summary. 1,430 churches and 130 missions affiliate with the state convention. This compares with the 1,384 churches and 259 missions – or 1,643 congregations – that were part of LBC 10 years ago, as recorded in the 1996 annual report.
Stated differently, Louisiana has 46 more churches than it did 10 years ago, and 129 fewer missions. But the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans – keelhauled by Katrina – accounts for the loss of 78 missions.
Associations have merged and divided, so an exact comparison of 1996 and 2006 isn’t possible, but it appears that of the associations that still have the same name they had 10 years ago, 11 associations have added one new church each: Beauregard, Bienville, Caldwell, Deer Creek, Jackson, La Tangi, Natchitoches, New Orleans, North Rapides, Richland and Vernon associations.
DeSoto, which added two churches, is the only association that added more than one church. Several associations posted a net loss in churches.
Several associations posted a substantial decrease in the number of mission churches. Five examples: Acadia now has three missions; in 1996 it had 16. Carey now has two missions; in 1996, it had seven. Central Louisiana, which now has no missions, had five in 2006. New Orleans had 102; it now has 24. Washington had three in 1996; it had none as of Aug. 31, 2006.
But on the other hand, Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association now has 22 missions; in 1996 it had 16. Gulf Coast has five, one more than 10 years ago.
“When studying statistical data it is imperative to look beneath the obvious and discover what is happening with mission starts,” said Mike Canady, LBC missions and ministry director. “One of the things we know about church planting is that it is a cyclical process. There may be a huge wave in one year because the leadership and funding components for starting several churches materialize in a short period of time.
“Of course, you must understand that our passion is to do everything we can to see to it that church plants become healthy churches,” Canady continued. “Although the ACP does reveal many data points, it does not indicate how many of these plants eventually become community-impacting, self-sustaining, mission-planting churches. You must understand that our goal is to plant mission congregations that become mature, self-sustaining and reproducing churches.”
Baptisms also reflect a stronger 1996 than 2,006. The 10,240 baptisms reflected in the 2006 summary are down by 4,361, when compared with the 14,601 reported in 1996.
Two events resulted in the lower number, said Wayne Jenkins, LBC evangelism/church growth director. In 2001, a procedural change resulted in a decrease of about 1,000 baptisms, and in 2006, fewer churches reported in because of Katrina/Rita.
Five associations reported significantly more baptisms in 2006: Chappapeela was up to 343 from 284 in 1996; Northeast Louisiana, up to 948 from 795; Ouachita up to 136 from 55 ten years ago; Sabine up to 136 from 79; and Webster Claiborne up to 341 from 261.
“Two things possibly contributed to the increase in baptisms,” said Chappapeela Baptist Association’s Director of Missions, Lonnie Wascom. “First, the association added new churches, and second, churches got really serious about evangelism and made it their first priority.”
Chappapeela churches with significant baptisms reported in 2006: First Ponchatoula, with 79; Jake Roudkovski is pastor. Wardline Hammond, 58; Jeff McCon is pastor. Crossgate First in Robert, 44. Louis Husser is pastor. Woodland Park in Hammond, 32, with no pastor’s name in the 2006 report. Bedico Ponchatoula, 28, with Leo Miller as pastor.
Several associations, however, reported significantly fewer baptisms, with New Orleans, not surprisingly, leading that list, from 1,920 in 1996, down to 246 in 2006, or a 1,674-person drop in baptisms. In all, 21 associations posted at least a 50-person decrease in baptisms, including Beauregard, down 261; Carey, down 251; plus Northwest Louisiana and St. Tammany, both down 244.
“People” numbers across the board are down from 10 years ago. The 1996 ACP summary showed 411,960 resident members and 606,301 total members. The 2006 figures: 359,444 and 558,873. Sunday school, down by 55,015 members. Discipleship Training, down by 11,920 participants. VBS, down by 22,683 atttendees. Music, down 27,356 voices. WMU, down 7,627. Men, down 2,645.
“There are plenty of voices speculating today on the overall decline. Our Southern Baptist president Frank Page has used his office to caution Southern Baptists about the danger of becoming irrelevant in today’s culture,” said John Yeats, LBC director of communications. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know evangelical Christians are already marginalized by the adherents of the dominant religion of our day, Secularism. Have some of our statistics become measurements of old, tired methods that are in their sunset years? For sure, more research needs to be done and published to help us determine the precise challenges and potential solutions.
“If our statistics reveal a systemic problem of “doing church” in our carnal flesh, and humanistic energy, then we already know the solution,” Yeats continued. “That solution is desperate men and women calling out to God in repentance. The solution requires we revisit the Cross and rediscover what it feels like to be cleansed from our personal iniquity. The solution includes returning like the prodigal to our Father King and humbly embracing His ways rather than our own.”
Financial figures across the board are up from 10 years ago. Gifts to missions through the Cooperative Program, about $20.8 million in 2006, was up from $18 million in 1996. In all, Louisiana Southern Baptist churches gave more than $45.3 million to mission causes in 2006, up from not quite $28 million in 1996.
“It is true that the 2006 ACP reflects that the churches who reported gave … an increase of $ 2,762,489,” said Michael Stewart, LBC Cooperative Program strategist. But, he continued, “If one compares the percentage of CP giving as reported on the ACP by the total of undesignated gifts as reported on the ACP then the percentage is smaller – 10 percent in 1996 versus 8 percent in 2006.”
This compares favorably with the national picture, Stewart said.
“In general, the percentage of CP giving to undesignated receipts, at the national level, has gone from 10.16 percent in 1998-1989 to 6.66 percent in 2004-2005.”
One reason for the decrease is a lack of knowledge about the Cooperative Program, Stewart said. Part of his job is speaking in churches about the way the Cooperative Program supports more than 10,000 missionaries around the world, plus an educational system that trains pastors, other ministers and missionaries. Call Stewart at 1-800-622-6549 if you’d like him or someone else from the staff of the LBC or its entities to speak at your church event about the Cooperative Program.
Louisiana’s 1,365 congregations that sent in ACPs in all received more than $245 million in undesignated receipts in 2006, and a total of more than $350 million including mission giving. In 1996 those figures were about $179 million in undesignated receipts, and a bit more than $243 million including mission giving.
“It is very important when comparing statistics that you compare apples and apples,” Yeats said. “Church giving may be significantly higher but you must drill down into those numbers to determine what is happening with those dollars. Is the increase because of inflation? Is the increase the result of capital giving for a church facility or upgrade? Is the increase the result of churches being recipients of funds from outside sources due to the hurricanes? Are the statistical changes due to the ageing of our congregations? Before we start speculating on a rationale for the increase and before we draw conclusions, we need to prudently study a local church’s activities and its ministries.”
Bottom line, Louisiana Baptist churches strongly believe in and support missions giving, Lingenfelter said.
“Southern Baptist churches are autonomous and each church must determine the Lord’s heart for their missions giving,” the business manager said. “What makes Southern Baptist cooperative ministries strong is the blessing that the vast majority of Southern Baptist congregations give the bulk of their mission dollars through the Cooperative Program. The result is in the world of missions and theological education, Southern Baptists give glory to God for the way He has blessed our agencies and institutions.
“It is encouraging to have state leaders, like Dr. Hankins, who led our state convention to adopt the Cooperative Program Advance Plan,” Lingenfelter added. “This plan takes fifty percent of all new monies given to the Cooperative Program and sends those funds to national and international Southern Baptist ministries. This doesn’t hinder the work of our Judea ministries, but it expands the portion given to Southern Baptist national and international ministries.”