The Southern Baptist Convention has hit a milestone it would rather avoid, with membership numbers dropping to their lowest point in five decades, according to new data released this week.
Lifeway Research, which tracks statistics for the denomination, published findings on Tuesday showing membership decreased by 3% in 2025, bringing the total to 12.3 million members nationwide. This marks the continuation of a downward trend spanning nearly twenty years.
However, the denomination found reasons for optimism in other areas. Weekly church attendance climbed almost 4% to reach 4.5 million people, while baptisms rose 5% to 263,075 individuals.
The baptism figures represent the second year running that numbers have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. For Southern Baptists, baptisms serve as a crucial indicator of spiritual health and growth, measuring how effectively they’re bringing new believers into their faith community.
“We are grateful Southern Baptists continue to show growth in key metrics like baptisms, worship attendance and Bible study participation,” stated Jeff Iorg, who leads the SBC Executive Committee.
Scott McConnell, who directs Lifeway Research, explained that the membership decline stems partly from church closures and congregations updating their member lists to reflect accurate numbers.
The statistics come from voluntary reports submitted by individual churches. The denomination maintains its strongest presence in Southern states, where it originated from a pro-slavery split before the Civil War, though it has since expanded across North America.
Religious scholars pay close attention to these figures because the Southern Baptist Convention represents the largest evangelical Christian group in America and maintains detailed statistical records.
While the SBC continues to hold the title as America’s biggest Protestant denomination, this is partly due to other major denominations experiencing even steeper declines. Meanwhile, nondenominational churches with similar evangelical beliefs and independent structures have been expanding. The category of religiously unaffiliated Americans, known as “nones,” had grown for decades but has recently plateaued, according to Pew Research Center data from last year.
