The report from Lifeway Research, revealed that the SBC had 13.2 million members last year, a 457,371 drop from 2021, when it had 13.68 million members.
According to the Annual Church Profile compiled by Lifeway, this membership decline is the largest drop in over a century.
In 2016, the SBC peaked with 16.3 million members, but by 2018, it had lost 1.5 million. Since 2006, the denomination has lost more than 3 million members. Membership is currently the lowest it’s been since the 1970s.
According to Religion News Service, the world’s largest Baptist denomination has been the subject of several controversies in recent years, including sex abuse scandals, social justice issues and leadership problems.
Lifeway Research executive director Scott McConnell noted that the delayed updating of membership records has a lot to do with the drastic decline.
The SBC also lost 416 churches and another 165 “church-type” missions.
Despite the decline in congregants, SBC church attendance has recovered from the hit it took during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing by 5 percent to 3.8 million in 2022 after dropping from 4.4 million in 2020.
There has also been a 16 percent increase in baptisms from 2021 to 2022.