According to Lifeway, this is the 19th year that SBC is losing members
Nowhere in the report does it say anything about how potential members may have been turned off by the SBC’s pathetic attempts at addressing its sex abuse crisis, or downplaying sexual misconduct among former leaders, or punishing churches with women pastors, or pushing out Black pastors, or losing prominent advocates, or all the anti-LGBTQ policies. (A 2024 survey found that “negative religious teachings or treatment of about gay and lesbian people” was one of the top reasons people gave for why they left the religion of their childhood.)…
Recall that when Bart Barber, the former president of the SBC, appeared on 60 Minutes in October of 2022 to defend the denomination and present a more compassionate side of the SBC, he still ended up saying he wanted to force children to have their rapists’ babies, regardless of circumstance, because he believes fetuses matter more than their mothers. It was a barbaric stance, void of any real compassion. He also promoted “conversion therapy” (which is dangerous and ineffective) while saying that someone in a same-sex marriage could not possibly be a “good Christian.” He also denied the existence of trans people. And then he said he voted for Donald Trump in 2020.
That’s not to say the SBC’s membership decline is Barber’s fault or even Clint Pressley, the current president. But when the chief representative of your religion—someone who was praised for his appearance on the show—explains how his faith teaches him that Jesus is homophobic, that his God wants to further traumatize child victims of sexual assault, and that the thrice-married racist who paid hush money to a porn star he was having an affair with when his current wife was pregnant with his fifth child and who remains a threat to democracy could still get his support, it’s no wonder that less media-savvy pastors aren’t keeping people—especially young people—in the pews. And as Trump’s popularity continues to dwindle, we can only hope he’s dragging conservative Christianity down with him.
That’s why it’s hard to feel any sympathy for the denomination. They may be losing members but we, as a society, aren’t losing anything of value
