Baptist pastors in West face decline and in South, poverty

[James]

Baptist pastors in West face decline and in South, poverty | ChristianToday

The biggest problem a pastor faces depends on where the minister is located. That was the message from speakers at the Baptist World Alliance annual conference in Prague last week.

For pastors in North America, the greatest challenge is the cultural shift away from Christianity, said David Laubach, the North American presenter at the BWA workgroup about church health and effectiveness.

Five decades ago, 80 per cent of Americans attended church regularly, Laubach said, according to the Associated Baptist Press. Now, the number has fallen between 20 and 42 per cent depending on self-reported attendance or actual Sunday seat counts.

Moreover, three-quarters of US churches report a membership plateau or decline. Out of the churches that are growing, nearly a quarter are doing so by taking members from declining churches. Only one percent of US churches are growing by attracting new members from the unchurched population.

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[Plain old Bill]

Few churches go out on visitation or soul winning. We have turned our members into pew potatoes and then we cry. Make your laymen local missionaries..,.get out and visit, each one bring one, have special sundays frequently, hold revivals and invite outsiders. Build a fire under your church.