Author: Baptist Press

McLaurin practices ‘ministry of presence’ in wake of Buffalo massacre

BUFFALO, N.Y. (BP) – As Buffalo mourns the murder of 10 African Americans in a racially motivated supermarket massacre, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Interim President and CEO Willie McLaurin is conducting a ministry of presence.

McLaurin traveled to Buffalo to hear the concerns and needs of area pastors, express his love and concern and visit the memorial outside Tops Supermarket honoring those murdered.

“For years I have valued the ministry of presence,” McLaurin told Baptist Press. “Being with fellow believers during a time of crisis provides comfort and reassurance that they are not alone. Ministry is complex and challenging.

“My goals were to listen to the stories of ministry leaders in Buffalo, learn about how God is at work in their church and community as a result of this tragic act of violence, and demonstrate the love of Jesus,” McLaurin said. “Simply put, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Brian Robinson, senior pastor of Fillmore Community Church about two miles from the supermarket, was among about 10 pastors in the Frontier Baptist Association and others who greeted McLaurin.

“Dr. Willie McLaurin’s visit is greatly appreciated; because of his own experience in the tragic death of a family member, he can empathize and sympathize with the grief and suffering of the family members of the victims,” Robinson said, referencing that George Floyd was McLaurin’s third cousin. “He also knows what is involved with comforting others while dealing with your own feelings.”

Faithful Stones Church, a non-Southern Baptist evangelical church near the scene of the crime, hosted the pastors’ meeting. Faithful Stone Senior Pastor Mark Hamilton is building relationships with area Southern Baptists.

“What happened on Saturday, May 14th, 2022, has brought and will bring the secret counsel of God’s good purpose to light,” Hamilton said. “We may not see it or understand why, how, what or when, but out of the ash heap of death will rise the goodness of a good God.”

Others welcoming McLaurin included Frontier Baptist Association Associational Missionary Mike Flannery, North Buffalo Community Church Senior Pastor Bill Smith, and Amherst Baptist Church Pastor Eric Napoli.

Frank Williams, a Bronx, N.Y., pastor and president of the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention, said McLaurin’s trip was important to Southern Baptist relations.

“It means a lot that Dr. McLaurin took the time to visit the pastors, families and the Buffalo community,” Williams said. “It demonstrates his heart for the people whose lives are permanently changed in the wake of this tragic mass shooting. His presence represented our denomination in a way that demonstrated a care for this vulnerable community that was targeted.”

Williams did not attend the event, but previously reached out to Robinson and Smith, praying with them individually and on a Buffalo outreach on Zoom.

Southern Baptists have responded to the tragedy with prayer and tangible support, with community cookouts planned for May 28 and June 4 in the parking lot of Faithful Stones Church. The Southern Baptist Convention of Texas is among out-of-state groups planning to respond, McLaurin said.

Flannery believes McLaurin’s visit will help cement relationships with the broader evangelical community in Buffalo and speed Gospel outreach.

“The mere fact that he came, was willing to come, really showed that we are partners in the work together. And he wants to come back, this summer perhaps, and see additional work that can be done and encourage people,” Flannery said. “I feel like, even now … there’s a warmer fellowship between the evangelical community and Frontier Association because of this and how we’re working together.

“They talked about working together and getting the Gospel out in difficult times, meeting their (the community’s) physical, mental emotional and spiritual needs, but never forgetting their spiritual, as they meet with this disaster.”

Williams applauded the Southern Baptist response to the tragedy.

“Several of our SBC leaders reached out to me and to others to see what they could do to help. This spoke volumes, and says that the lives of those persons who were killed matters to us all,” Williams said. “Our denomination is known for disaster relief by effectively coming into devastated communities to help them recover.

“When massacres like this happen, especially when it has the appearance of being motivated by a racist agenda, it requires disaster relief of a different kind. It begins with the kind of solidarity that Paul the apostle speaks of in 1 Corinthians 12:26, ‘and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.’”

The Southern Baptist response will continue long after the national attention dies, Flannery said.

“In about a week or so, the TV cameras, everything leaves, and then we’ll be there with an ongoing evangelical ministry, ministry to the whole person,” Flannery said. “Like we do in disaster relief, we stick around and we share the Gospel.”

Robinson, a bivocational pastor who works in education, spoke of the tragedy’s far-reaching impact.

“I would like other Southern Baptists to recognize the devastation this evil act has had on Buffalo’s Black community in particular and the city as a whole,” Robinson said. “Like other cities in the nation we have our share of gun violence. But this was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by a disciple of White supremacy.”

McLaurin condemned the evil.

“Sin of any kind grieves God,” he said. “When that sin results in the killing of innocent lives, we should call it evil and do everything we can to rebuke and combat against it. When tragedy strikes any community it should break our hearts, but not break our resolve. MLK Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ When my brothers and sisters in another city are facing a crisis, then other Southern Baptists should do everything they can to demonstrate concern.”

SATF report shows EC pattern of resistance to addressing abuse claims

Editor’s note: At the bottom of this report, you will find a statement released today by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Months of work by the Sexual Abuse Task Force and Guidepost Solutions concerning the alleged mishandling of sexual abuse claims by the SBC Executive Committee (EC) resulted in a 288-page report released publicly Sunday (May 22). The report came at the request of messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting.

“Our investigation revealed that, for many years, a few senior EC leaders, along with outside counsel, largely controlled the EC’s response to these reports of abuse. They closely guarded information about abuse allegations and lawsuits, which were not shared with EC Trustees, and were singularly focused on avoiding liability for the SBC to the exclusion of other considerations,” the report said.

The report says that for the two decades within the scope of the investigation, survivors of abuse and other concerned Southern Baptists have been met with “resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC.”

The task force was charged with reviewing cases and claims of alleged mishandling claims of sexual abuse made between January 1, 2000, and June 14, 2021.

“Over the years, the EC’s response to sexual abuse allegations was largely driven by senior EC staff members, particularly D. August ‘Augie’ Boto, the EC General Counsel and later Interim EC President, as well as the SBC’s long-serving outside counsel – James Guenther, James Jordan, and the firm of Guenther, Jordan & Price (‘GJP’),” the report says, adding: “Their main concern was avoiding any potential liability for the SBC.”

“Mr. Guenther advised that EC staff should not undertake to elicit further information or details about reports of abuse, so that the EC not assume a legal duty to take further action,” the report says.

In addition, the existence of reports of abuse were not shared with EC Trustees “over the years,” according to the report.

What does the EC do?

The EC board of trustees is composed of Southern Baptists from across the convention’s 41 state and regional conventions. Trustees are elected by the Convention at its annual meeting.

The SBC president, SBC recording secretary, WMU national president and EC president/CEO are also ex-officio members of the EC board of trustees.

“Although the Executive Committee does not control or direct the activities of Convention agencies, it reviews their financial statements and recommends the Convention annual operating budget,” says a description at SBC.net. “In addition, it receives and distributes the moneys Southern Baptists give in support of denominational ministries, acts as the recipient and trust agency for all Convention properties, and provides public relations and news services. It also performs other tasks assigned by the SBC and promotes the general work of Southern Baptists.”

The EC “employs an executive and professional staff in its Nashville office.” There are currently 25 employees on staff with the EC.

Abuse claims

The Guidepost report listed only one instance of alleged abuse by an EC member in its summary. “During our investigation, an SBC pastor and his wife came forward to report that SBC President Johnny Hunt (2008-2010) had sexually assaulted the wife on July 25, 2010,” the report said.

Investigators found the claims to be credible, according to the report, having verified them “by a counseling minister and three other credible witnesses.” The report says that investigators did not find Hunt’s statements concerning the alleged assault to be credible.

Mishandling abuse claims and survivors

The report says that though high-level EC staff kept a list of reports of abuse among possible SBC pastors, it had no plans to act on behalf of survivors.

“In a May 2019 email to Dr. Ronnie Floyd, the then-EC President, EC Vice President Dr. Roger ‘Sing’ Oldham acknowledged that ‘[f]or the past decade, I have been regularly sending Augie news reports of Baptist ministers who are arrested for sexual abuse, for his awareness. It hasn’t slowed down since the [Houston] Chronicle articles started on February 10.’ Mr. Boto responded that: ‘Yes. We are collecting them, and may even post them in some way, but we’d have to really examine the potential liabilities that would stem therefrom.’”

The Guidepost report also spoke of instances where survivors were further harmed by mistreatment by the EC, “The survivors – those persons who actually suffered at the hands of SBC clergy or SBC church staff or volunteers – who spoke out the most, and who criticized the SBC’s inaction, were denigrated as “opportunistic,” having a “hidden agenda of lawsuits,” wanting to “burn things to the ground,” and acting as a “professional victim.”

The report points to this publication, Baptist Press (BP), on two occasions.

“For example, in March 2019, Jennifer Lyell, a senior executive at an SBC entity, was asked by executives at Lifeway and SBC entity heads to disclose her sexual abuse at the hands of her former seminary professor through a first-person account to be published in BP,” the report says. “Rather than publishing Ms. Lyell’s corroborated account as BP staff had originally drafted it, the account was changed to read as if Ms. Lyell was consensually involved with her alleged abuser. The article as published reported that Ms. Lyell alleged that she had a “morally inappropriate relationship” with her former seminary professor, making it appear that she engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with him.”

Another instance is related to a report from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s 2019 Caring Well conference.

From the report: “Additionally, an article about the 2019 Caring Well conference, written by an Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (‘ERLC’) staffer, was sanitized before publication. The draft article had contained quotes from two survivor advocates who had spoken critically at the conference about the SBC’s handling of sexual abuse allegations. When the article was published, some of the story had been deleted, including all references to one of the advocates and all claims that the SBC had failed survivors.”

Other SBC leaders named in the report who are said to have “protected or even supported abusers” include Steve Gaines, former SBC president; Jack Graham, former SBC president; Paige Patterson, former SBC president and former president of both Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Paul Pressler, former Texas judge and former EC member; Greg Addison, former EC executive vice president; and Mike Stone, current EC member.

The report also spends 65 pages discussing the work of the SBC Credentials Committee, a body created to examine whether or not a church was acting within cooperation guidelines held by the SBC.

The report says the task of investigating sexual abuse claims was assigned to the committee before there were proper protocols, guidelines and training in place. “Consequently, the Credentials Committee began operating without adopting any written policies and procedures, such as set timelines/deadlines, protocols for correspondence with submitters and churches, and standards for review. At least one outside expert offered help and support in developing criteria and standards, but the offers were rebuffed,” the report said.

While the report says the committee meant well, it adds: “These and other deficiencies led to delays and communications breakdowns that caused submitters and others to lose faith in the process despite what we believe to be good intentions and effort on the part of the Credentials Committee members.”

Recommendations from the SATF

The Sexual Abuse Task Force was selected by SBC President Ed Litton in the days following the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting. In addition to working with Guidepost to carry out the investigation, messengers gave the task force the responsibility of bringing recommendations to messengers to the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting.

While the SATF says it will be posting formal motions and suggestions before the annual meeting, it has listed a group of “a few initial needs:”

We recommend that an Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force be appointed by the next SBC president to assist with the implementation of reform initiatives in our convention for a period of three years. This Task Force will evaluate all recommendations by Guidepost and bring a report at next year’s convention on recommended reforms. This Task Force will also work with the Executive Committee to create and maintain a process that will work within our Baptist polity for alerting the community to the presence and activity of credibly accused offenders, including the establishment of a “ministry check” website. Additionally, this Task Force will work with and resource the Credentials Committee to help them function more effectively, including formalizing and improving their processes, procedures, and standard principles of cooperation. The Task Force and Executive Committee will take steps to establish a relationship with an independent firm to assist the Credentials Committee in their work.
We recommend that the Executive Committee hire a subject matter expert(s) to receive calls, provide initial guidance for reports of sexual abuse, and work with state conventions for training and educational opportunities.

We recommend that all entity boards and standing committees have training regarding sexual abuse prevention and survivor care, as well as background checks as part of their orientation and selection.
We recommend that IMB, NAMB, and our six SBC seminaries require formal preparation for their denominational workers and students in regard to prevention, training, and survivor care.
We recommend that the Executive Committee set aside a budget and hire a salaried staff person for the Credentials Committee.

Responses from the SATF, SBC president, the EC, and the Credentials Committee

The task force issued a statement with the report calling on Southern Baptists to take the content of the report seriously and to act upon the findings.

“As the task force, we grieve for what has been revealed in this report,” the task force wrote. “We lament on behalf of survivors for how they have not been protected and cared for as they deserve and as God demands. With broken hearts, we want to lead the way by publicly repenting for what has happened in our convention. We implore our Southern Baptist family to respond to this report with deep repentance and a commitment to the ongoing moral demands of the gospel as it relates to sexual abuse.”

The task force called on Southern Baptists to take action based on the findings of the report. “We must resolve to give of our time and resources to not only care well for survivors of sexual abuse, but to provide a culture of accountability, transparency, and safety as we move forward,” the statement says.

Ed Litton, SBC president, echoed the sentiment of the task force. “There are not adequate words to express my sorrow at the things revealed in this report,” he said. “I am grieved to my core for those who have suffered sexual abuse in Southern Baptist contexts, both for those named in this report and the many who are not. I thank God for the courage and persistence of the survivors and advocates who brought the Southern Baptist Convention to this moment.”

He called on Southern Baptists to act in light of the report. “Amid my grief, anger, and disappointment over the grave sin and failures this report lays bare, I earnestly believe that Southern Baptists must resolve to change our culture and implement desperately needed reforms,” Litton said in a statement to Baptist Press.

He called on messengers to the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting to be prepared to respond.

“The time is now,” he said. “We have so much to lament, but genuine grief requires a godly response. I pray Southern Baptists will begin preparing today to take deliberate action to address these failures and chart a new course when we meet together in Anaheim.”

Rolland Slade, current EC chairman, and Willie McLaurin, EC interim president/CEO, issued a joint statement upon receiving the report.

“To the members of the survivor community, we are grieved by the findings of this investigation,” they said. “We are committed to doing all we can to prevent future instances of sexual abuse in churches, to improve our response and our care, to remove reporting roadblocks, and to respond to the will of the messengers in Anaheim next month.

“This is the beginning of a season of listening, lamenting, and learning how to address sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention.”

In the statement, they announced a special-called meeting on Tuesday, May 24, to “discuss and process the report.”

They asked the members of Southern Baptist churches to pray for EC members and staff as they “move through the process that Southern Baptists have asked us to do.”

The SBC Credential Committee also issued a statement regarding the Guidepost report.

“We receive this report with open minds and heavy hearts. We grieve for those impacted by abuse, and we are prepared to repent for anything the Credentials Committee inadvertently failed to do to alleviate the suffering of survivors,” the statement said.

“We are committed to listening and learning from this extensive report and its recommendations. We look forward to implementing recommendations and strengthening the Credentials Committee’s work.”

The 2022 SBC Annual Meeting is scheduled for June 14-15 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

On Monday, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention issued a joint statement co-signed by Executive Director Nathan Lorick, President Todd Kaunitz, and Executive Board Chairman Mark Hogan stating the following:

Dear SBTC churches,
As you may know, the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force released their report Sunday afternoon, May 22. Below is a statement from the leadership of the SBTC along with a link to the report.

The contents of the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force report causes us to grieve for those who have been affected by sexual abuse. We can only imagine the pain and trauma survivors have endured through the reliving and retelling of their experiences, and we are grateful for their courage in coming forward. As a family of churches, we must do better. We must repent of our sin, learn from our past, care for those affected, and respond with clear pathways forward. SBTC churches and church leaders can be assured of the SBTC’s commitment to embrace constructive pathways to restoration and healing, to work to comfort and minister to survivors of abuse in our own network, and to continue to evaluate and reform our own policies, procedures, and ministries toward prevention. The SBTC Task Force, authorized by unanimous vote of the messengers in our November 2021 Annual Meeting, has been working diligently to strengthen our efforts within our own network of churches. May God grant us forgiveness where there is sin, healing where there is hurt, encouragement where there is hope, and the mind of Christ in all things.

IMB trustees appoint 56 missionaries, celebrate with missionary emeriti

ORLANDO, Fla. (BP) — International Mission Board trustees approved 56 new fully funded missionaries for appointment during their May 18-19 meeting in Orlando. The meeting was conducted in conjunction with the Celebration of Emeriti event held every five years to recognize retiring missionaries who have completed their service with the IMB.

IMB trustee chair Chuck Pourciau (left) shakes hands with IMB President Paul Chitwood. Pourciau, lead pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church, Shreveport, Louisiana, was elected to a second consecutive one-year term as trustee chair. IMB Photo

New missionaries approved for appointment will be recognized during a Sending Celebration on Tuesday, June 14, at 9:20 a.m. PDT during the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Each missionary is crucial to IMB’s goal to send an additional 500 missionaries by 2025. Accounting for missionaries who complete their service, approximately 400 new missionaries are needed each year to meet the strategic objective of growth in the total mission force.

The meeting was opened in prayer by trustee Nate Bishop, second vice chair, from Kentucky.

Trustee chairman Chuck Pourciau from Louisiana introduced Tom Elliff, who attended the emeriti event with his wife, Diana. Elliff, who served as IMB president from 2011-2014, greeted trustees and commended IMB’s leadership.

“There’s not a meeting of minds and hearts more important than this one,” Elliff said. He thanked trustees and IMB staff for their hard, but eternally significant, work. “My heart safely trusts in you,” he said.

Elliff, who served as a missionary in Zimbabwe, is now a lecturer, facilitator and mentor at the Tom Elliff Center for Missions at Oklahoma Baptist University.

Andy Davis, trustee from North Carolina, prayed for the Elliffs; and for former IMB president Jerry Rankin and his wife, Bobbye, and former executive vice president Clyde Meador and his wife, Elaine, who were not able to attend.

President’s report

Jenna Cobb, IMB trustee from Florida, gave the mobilization report during the May 19 meeting in Orlando, Florida. IMB Photo

IMB President Paul Chitwood spoke of his enjoyment of recent meetings with new missionaries, field leadership and trustees. He also celebrated the 800 gathered emeriti, whom he called “heroes of the faith.”

His report continued with highlights of the current state of the IMB:

The combined totals of IMB’s two primary revenue streams, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program, currently are running more than 14 percent ahead of last year’s giving, year to date.
The missionary candidate pipeline has quadrupled in the past three years and stands at nearly 1,000 potential future missionaries.

As reported in the newly released 2021 Annual Statistical Report, the number of people who responded to the Gospel, the number of new believers baptized, and the number of new churches planted overseas increased over the previous year.

IMB has fully funded its commitment to emeriti benefits with the necessary $128 million.
Leaders in South Asia report a spiritual awakening among Hindus turning away from false gods to the one true Gospel

Through Send Relief, IMB’s compassion ministry partnership with the North American Mission Board, Southern Baptists have given $10,941,234.90 to date toward Ukrainian relief efforts.

Chitwood also reported on other significant investments of the IMB, including: Church Connections, the strategy to connect every Southern Baptist church with a missionary; growth of the ministry advancement team to build relationships with individual givers; Go Method, a volunteer screening process for volunteers; GO IMPACT, the student-sending pathway; a newly structured mobilization team; and a new marketing and communications department to elevate IMB’s brand. Chitwood announced that a new IMB brand would be launched at the SBC annual meeting in Anaheim.

Chitwood concluded by sharing the updated number from IMB’s Global Research team that 157,690 people currently die daily without Christ.

“More people will die lost today than on any other day upon which the sun has risen in human history,” Chitwood said. “Yet to this problem, the world’s greatest problem — the problem of spiritual lostness — God has given us a solution. We are stewards of the Good News of His Gospel. And through a sustained missionary presence, we are taking that Gospel to the very ends of the earth. And we are doing it together.”

Continuing business

Standing committees provided reports regarding administration, global engagement, human resources, LFTT (logistics, finance, technology, travel), mobilization and training. The reports included significant growth in the number of total engagements with Southern Baptist churches and the number of apprentice missionaries. Apprentice missionaries are those serving their first term on the mission field.

Trustee Keith Evans, chair of the administration committee from the Pacific Northwest, led the election of officers for the coming year. Trustees elected the current officers to serve another term. The following officers will serve a consecutive one-year term: Chuck Pourciau of Louisiana, chair; Lisa Lovell of Arkansas, first vice chair; Nate Bishop of Kentucky, second vice chair; and Carol Pfeiffer of Texas, recording secretary.

Chitwood thanked trustees completing their terms of service and affirmed their continuing commitment to reaching the world’s lost with the Gospel. Trustees recognized included: Thom Polvogt, Texas; Larry Lambes, Ohio; Michael Cloer, North Carolina; Opie Hurst, Mississippi; Phil Mitchell, Tennessee; Bill Ricketts, Georgia; Cecil Sanders, Alabama; Sam Taylor, New England; and Mike Simmons, Texas.

Pourciau adjourned the meeting with prayer.

The next IMB board of trustees meeting will be Sept. 28-29 in Richmond, Va.

SBTC funds ultrasound placements in Texas through Psalm 139 Project

HOUSTON (BP) – The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) presented a gift of $228,000 to the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity Tuesday (May 17) for the placement of six ultrasound machines at pregnancy resource centers in the state.

The SBTC grant was made to the Psalm 139 Project, a ministry of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) that provides ultrasound technology to pregnancy centers and trains staff members in its use. The donation will cover the placement of the six machines, as well as staff training. Locations for three of the machines already have been selected, according to the ERLC.

Including the three pregnancy resource centers already chosen in Texas, the ERLC has now placed or committed to centers to place 36 ultrasound machines toward its goal of 50 placements between December 2020 and January 2023. The 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion throughout the United States will be Jan. 22 of next year.

A Texas law that prohibits the abortion of an unborn child whose heartbeat can be detected went into effect Sept. 1 of last year. By definition, the Texas Heartbeat Act (S.B. 8) bans abortions as early as five to six weeks into pregnancy. Pregnancy resource centers in the state have reported a dramatic increase in the number of clients since the law became effective, including a center in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex that experienced a 48 percent surge from the previous year, according to the Southern Baptist Texan, the SBTC’s official magazine.

Rachel Wiles, the ERLC’s director of Psalm 139 placement, told Baptist Press, “We are so grateful for this partnership with the SBTC and know the Lord will use these funds to save lives.

“The ERLC continually seeks to save lives and serve mothers, especially in partnership with pro-life clinics,” Wiles said in written comments. “Since the passing of S.B. 8, the Psalm 139 Project has been contacted by several Texas pregnancy centers requesting updated ultrasound machines. Improved technology in newer machines provides much earlier heartbeat detection and allows a woman to see the growing life inside her.”

Tony Wolfe, the SBTC’s associate executive director, described the presentation to the Psalm 139 Project as “one of many examples of the SBTC’s commitment to supporting pro-life initiatives in our state. Through cooperation with the ERLC and other pro-life organizations, SBTC churches are consistently working to make abortion not only illegal in our lifetime, but unthinkable and unnecessary as well.”

Nathan Lorick, the SBTC’s executive director, presented the gift Tuesday to Elizabeth Graham, the ERLC’s vice president of operations and life initiatives. The presentation occurred during a private gathering for Texas pastors and ministry leaders hosted by the ERLC at Northeast Houston Baptist Church.

Wolfe urged churches to prepare for what could soon be a post-Roe America. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion in the next several weeks in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which regards a Mississippi ban on abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation.

In early May, Politico published a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that, if it becomes final, would strike down the 1973 Roe decision. Four other members of the high court have joined Associate Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the draft opinion, in support of reversing Roe, according to Politico. If a majority of the Supreme Court follows through in its final opinion by overturning Roe and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling that affirmed its 1973 decision, the action would return abortion policy to the states. About half of the 50 states will have laws prohibiting abortion or restricting it at some stage if Roe is overturned.

With what could be Roe’s reversal near, “churches need to be more involved now than ever in ministering to families in the pro-life space,” Wolfe said. “Yesterday’s grant is intended to spur along this conversation and effort across the Lone Star State and, prayerfully, the nation.

“A grant from a network of 2,704 churches can make a large, brief splash in the movement, but the rushing waters of a culture of life will only flow as preborn children are protected and expecting parents are cared for every day, one at a time,” he said. “The local, everyday ministry of churches is where the pro-life movement matters most.

“We encourage church leaders everywhere to strategize and take immediate action toward real-time, first-world ministry to champion, protect and serve vulnerable image bearers of God from womb to tomb.”

Ultrasound technology has proved to be a vital tool for pregnancy resource centers in their ministry to abortion-minded women. The sonogram images of their unborn children have helped many women choose to give birth.

Since 2004, the Psalm 139 Project has helped place ultrasound equipment at centers in 16 states. In September 2021, the project made its first international placement in Northern Ireland.

All gifts to the Psalm 139 Project go toward machines and training, since the ERLC’s administrative costs are covered by the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s unified giving plan. Information on the Psalm 139 Project and how to donate is available at psalm139project.org.

3 steps for welcoming kids with special needs to VBS

HOUSTON (BP) — Last summer on the final day of VBS, I stood at the back of our worship center with one of our staff members as we scanned the crowd of kids singing and dancing along to the Destination Dig theme song. “It’s awesome that we were able to welcome more kids with special needs than ever before!” he said as he noticed some kids wearing noise-reducing headphones and others interacting with volunteers who were wearing buddy bags.

And it was awesome! But it took some planning ahead of time to make sure they felt welcome and everything ran smoothly. If you want to have your most inclusive, accessible VBS ever this year, I have some tips that will help.

If our VBS gatherings reflect our communities, up to 1 in 5 of the students we welcome for a week each summer will have a physical disability, cognitive disability, learning disability or mental health diagnosis. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2019-20 school year, 14 percent of total public-school students (ages 3-21) received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Add in kids with learning disabilities and mental health or behavior diagnoses who fall under 504 accommodations, and you’re likely close to 20 percent in your school district.

These students need learning, sensory and behavioral support at school, but they don’t often receive that help at church. This has led to the underrepresentation of children affected by disabilities in our churches – especially hidden disabilities like autism, ADD/ADHD, and learning disabilities. A 2018 study found children with autism are 84 percent less likely to attend church than their peers who aren’t affected by autism. The latest data from the CDC reported approximately 1 in 44 8-year-olds in the U.S. are on the autism spectrum. That’s a significant number of students we aren’t seeing on Sunday mornings.

The good news is churches can glean from this mission field of families. And welcoming all children to VBS this summer is a great way to start!

Here are three steps your church can take to reach families affected by disabilities and welcome them to VBS:

Add a question to your VBS registration form that communicates you’re prepared to welcome kids with disabilities

Ours says, “Does your child have an allergy, special need, learning disability or behavioral diagnosis you’d like to share so we are prepared to help him/her feel as safe and comfortable as possible?” Combining these options shows parents we aren’t making judgments about any of these additional needs. But it also shows we want to be prepared to serve their family well.

If they answer with a diagnosis, we follow up to ask more questions. We ask what supports the child has at school and home that we may be able to adapt for church. For example, if a child has dyslexia, we tell the teachers and ask them not to call on him to read aloud. If the child has a sensory processing disorder, we offer noise-reducing headphones during our large group worship time. This allows the child to participate without feeling as overwhelmed. Asking what works for the child helps make his or her time at church less stressful.

Equip teen and adult buddies to come alongside kids who benefit from extra attention and help

We model this after the partnership between Moses and Aaron in Exodus 4. God called Moses to speak before Pharaoh, but Moses responded, “my mouth and my tongue are sluggish” (v. 10b, CSB). In verses 14-16, God told Moses his brother Aaron would be with him as a helper, speaking when Moses couldn’t. The calling God had for Moses stayed the same. But God made modifications to the way Moses fulfilled his calling by providing a helper. Similarly, our buddies serve as helpers so our friends with special needs can fulfill the callings God has put on their lives.

Our buddies can be one-on-one helpers or present in the classroom to help anyone who may need it. They carry buddy bags with fidgets, a visual schedule, noise-reducing headphones, and other items that may be helpful depending on the child’s specific needs. The buddies can also help with academic work and navigating social situations. You can learn more about recruiting, training, and supporting buddies on the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention’s website.

Have spaces designated for sensory breaks

Sometimes students have too much energy and need a place to get that energy out. Sometimes they’re overwhelmed by sensory input and need a place to relax and feel calm again. We have sensory rooms that can meet both needs, but every church can create a place for sensory breaks: the playground swings, a hallway where they can take a walk, or a quiet corner with a comfortable rug and soft pillows. I have a Pinterest board with ideas for sensory rooms and spaces that any church could adapt.

We want families to feel welcome in our churches, so we take steps to make their kids with special needs comfortable at VBS. Then they can hear, understand and respond to the Gospel. Making VBS inclusive and welcoming is a great first step to reaching these families!

Major decline in adoptions accompanies COVID-19 pandemic

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (BP) – A substantial drop in the number of adoptions in the United States coincided with the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report.

Intercountry adoptions declined by 45 percent from 2019 to 2020; private, domestic adoptions by non-stepparents by 17 percent; and public adoptions from foster care by 13 percent, the National Council for Adoption (NCFA) reported May 11.

The fall in adoptions by Americans during the pandemic followed a 16-year plunge in the number of children adopted from other countries. International adoptions plummeted by more than 90 percent from a peak of 22,989 in 2004 to 1,622 in the fiscal year that ended in September 2020, according to the U.S. State Department. Meanwhile, total domestic adoptions in the United States dropped from 133,737 in 2007 to 115,353 in 2019, the NCFA estimated.

Southern Baptist public policy specialist Hannah Daniel called it “deeply concerning to see the dramatic impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on all types of adoptions.”

“Jesus tells us that caring for orphans and vulnerable children is an essential part of living out the Christian faith,” said Daniel, a policy associate with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), in written comments for Baptist Press. “It is critical that the church continue loving and caring for these children through adoption and finding ways to enhance and grow these efforts. The ERLC is committed to advocating for policies that further that goal.”

Herbie Newell, president and executive director of Lifeline Children’s Services, said he thinks the pandemic “did a lot of things as far as motivation to adopt.”

During the pandemic, knowing “that kids were languishing and that kids were in need at the same time we were locking our homes down, we were putting on masks, we were talking about social distancing” proved a “confusing message” for many families, he told BP in a phone interview.

“One of the things I think internationally that definitely COVID has affected is travel,” Newell said. “Of course, there’s still 400 kids that have been matched with U.S. families that are waiting to come home from China, and we don’t know when the end of that will be.”

The fact few children from China – the leading sending country for intercountry adoptions in 2019 – were adopted in 2020 and none in 2021 and 2022 has definitely affected the number of international adoptions, he said. The Chinese government has prohibited travel by adoptive families into the country during the pandemic.

The State Department largely attributed the 45 percent decline from 2019 to 2020 in intercountry adoptions by Americans to the pandemic’s effect “on operations in countries of origin worldwide, travel restrictions” and its own “Do Not Travel” global advisory.

In its report, NCFA said the pandemic “upended nearly every aspect of life in the United States, and child welfare is not an exception.” While the federal government had reported the decline in intercountry and public adoptions, its new report is the first to demonstrate the drop in private, domestic adoptions, according to NCFA. No government agency or non-governmental organization other than NCFA reports on the number of private, domestic adoptions.

NCFA acknowledged the fall in intercountry and public adoptions could possibly reflect delays in adoptions that occurred after the federal fiscal year ended in September that might result in “a catch-up” later but said it would be “unlikely to be true” for private, domestic adoptions.

Ryan Hanlon, NCFA’s acting president, said the report demonstrates “how great the need is for more Americans to consider adoption, particularly adoption from foster care and intercountry adoption where thousands of children continue to wait.”

“[T]here are too many children being left behind without a permanent, loving family here in the U.S. and around the world,” he said in a written release.

About 5.2 million children in the world have lost either a parent or caregiver to COVID-19, the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health medical journal reported in February.

“One thing that I would hope as believers and especially as Southern Baptists that as we look at those numbers that we don’t believe or begin to think that it is because there’s not need,” Newell said. “The need of children has actually risen.

“[T]he most vulnerable have become more vulnerable. [W]e need believers to step up to the plate and agree to foster, to adopt domestically, to care for kids in need and to adopt internationally.”

Newell added that he “would pray that as a church we would look at it from a much more child-centered approach and see that there are children in need and what can we do for those children in need,” he said. “And maybe we’re not called to adopt, but what are the other things that we can do for children in need and how can we really meet the children who are waiting and find parents and resources for children as opposed to finding children for parents. And I think if we would do that, just that subtle shift, we would really see more believers get into the space of child welfare.”

Hanlon recommended Americans pursuing a private, domestic adoption prepare for “longer wait times, and increasing costs, because the reality is that there are far more hopeful adoptive parents than there are infants being placed for adoption each year.” NFCA has seen that trend “accelerate during the pandemic,” he said.

In its report, NCFA’s recommendations included a requirement that states report on the number of private, domestic adoptions, as well as federal and state funding to inform birth parents about adoption. The report also consists of adoption statistics from each state.

In its advocacy for child-welfare policies, the ERLC is supporting congressional passage of the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act and the Adoptee Citizenship Act. The former would bar government discrimination against adoption agencies and other child-welfare organizations that refuse to take part in serving in a way that contradicts their beliefs. The latter closes a loophole in a two-decade-old law by enabling a child born overseas and adopted by an American citizen to acquire citizenship upon passing specific requirements regardless of when the adoption was completed.

The House of Representatives approved the Adoptee Citizenship Act in February as part of the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act. The Senate passed its own version of the overall bill without the adoption measure, and the ERLC has urged a conference committee to include the Adoptee Citizenship Act in the final, compromise legislation.

Lifeline Children’s Services, which is based in Birmingham, Ala., performs child-welfare work in more than 20 countries. Its domestic work in 16 states includes pregnancy counseling, adoption and family restoration.

IMB worker perseveres while waiting on a harvest

She has traveled a lot of rough roads. She has dealt with spiritual warfare. She has persevered through years of sowing with lean harvest – one of the most discouraging things for a missionary to write home about.

Yet she is trusting God to bring about His harvest in His time. And that trust is slowly paying off for Molly Petry, an IMB worker among an Unreached People Group (UPG) in a hard-to-access valley in Central Asia. She and her team of national partners who serve among this group are partnering with Send Relief, the joint compassion ministry of the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board, to bring clean water to the area.

“God really got my attention when I was studying in college about how He has created us as physical, emotional and spiritual beings,” Petry said. “Oftentimes we separate those things out. But He desires to transform all those areas of our life.”

Petry said she loves that the focus of the ministry among her UPG is also multifaceted. Her team brings clean water to those who need it most due to a plethora of lethal waterborne illnesses. They also bring “the Living Water because, without Him, they will die for eternity.”

A bonus for Petry is getting to share this physical water and Living Water alongside national partners. “They have insights and understandings and are able to communicate in ways that I am not able to,” she said.

As her team goes to this remote UPG, like they’ve been doing for the last five years, they’re working closely with one believing family and have seen one new believer, Sally, who lives in the capital city, come to faith.

Sally’s people group numbers 28,000 souls. Many, like Sally, have left their remote mountain valley to find work in larger cities. But they still consider this valley their home. Due to weather, the valley is inaccessible for months of the year. Petry’s team must travel six hours from the capital, going as far as the road will take them. In what Petry describes as “tough physical conditions,” they travel on foot to the villages to bring help and hope.

A few months back, Sally’s extended family, the only believing one that Petry’s team is aware of in the remote valley, was celebrating a wedding. Sally traveled home with Petry’s team. Petry joked that Sally was a “captive audience” of sorts, and during travel, the team shared the love of Christ with her. By the end of the trip, Sally made a profession of faith. Now, going back to the capital city after the wedding, she can plug in to a church and be discipled.

While celebrating this victory, Petry’s team of national believers also was experiencing relational conflict that Petry recognized as spiritual warfare. Petry said she was discouraged, to put it mildly.

“Anytime someone comes to faith, it’s a miracle to see the work of God in their life,” she said. “But to be able to be part of that, as our team was going through this relational conflict, was a gift from Him.”

“We were reminded that He’s at work in faraway places and using His Church and His body to make a difference and to bring His kingdom to come.”

Sally’s story was a reminder to Petry that sometimes a missionary can labor for years before seeing people respond to the Gospel. It reinforced in her that her team is in the planting years. But soon enough, whether it be months or years from now, God is going to bring about a great harvest.

Lydia Pettus, who lived with Petry in Central Asia, shared that often she’d see Petry sitting “at her desk, writing out and practicing the best way to share the Gospel in the local language, so that she can communicate in a way that her people can understand.

“Molly’s perseverance is seen in her razor-sharp focus on getting the Gospel to the dark places at the cost of her preferences or strength. She lives a rhythm of life that relies on the Holy Spirit’s power to help her to do what she cannot do.”

Some names may have been changed for security reasons.

The joy of giving

ROCHESTER, Minn. (BP) – As a kid, our family struggled financially, and as a result, I rarely got an allowance. But when I did, I was taught to give some of it back to the Lord. I heard regularly about the tithe (10 percent) but when I got a quarter, it seemed easiest to give a nickel back to Jesus – that’s 20 percent!

When I started babysitting, I tithed. When I got an adult job, I tithed. I still remember the first time, as a college student, when I gave over $100. That was over 40 years ago, yet I fear half the people in church today have never given a check that large. I feel sorry for them. They’ll likely never know the joy of giving.

I’ll never forget when a businessman joined the church I pastored. We’d been friends and even worked together on projects in our city. He made an appointment with me and stunned me with these words. “I tithe on my income and will give it faithfully to the church every time I pay myself.” Then he went on, “I also tithe off the earnings of my three businesses. As my pastor, I’ll bring my income statements to you quarterly, and I want you to help me find out where God wants the money to go.” He knows the joy of giving!

I’ll never forget when I had a breakfast meeting with a man who was selling his lifelong business of more than 40 years. He said, “Pastor, my wife and I have never really made much money all these years, but this is our one opportunity to give a great deal to the Lord. How much would it cost us to pave that parking lot?” They gave more than $40,000 to get it done and then more than $10,000 for outreach projects. That couple knows the joy of giving!

I’ll never forget having lunch with a man who was supervising the construction of our new sanctuary. He’d been hired back on to help the company he’d recently retired from. I asked him about the bills for the steel that hadn’t come through the office. He look down and the table, embarrassed, and said, “Pastor, they’re paying me a lot of money right now that my wife and I didn’t expect. I think God gave it to us for this purpose.” I estimate he paid more than $30,000 in bills we never saw. That couple knows the joy of giving!

Just recently I received a Facebook message from old friends who had been a part of the church I pastored 25 years ago. He asked, “Could you use some money to help with the work up there? What could you use?” I sent him back a request for $1,000 to help two pastors’ families during some difficult times. He wrote back, “Pastor, you’re thinking too small.” Ultimately, he sent us $11,000 to help fund a retreat for pastors and their wives as well as meet the two needs I’d mentioned. That couple knows the joy of giving!

At our church here in Rochester, we’ve been presented opportunity after opportunity the past two months. We’ve given people the opportunities to give for Ukraine war relief, help a partner church in Cuba buy cement, help a missionary couple get to their mission field with the International Mission Board, support church planting in North America through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, purchase a new playground for our church and send our kids on a mission trip to Iowa. Many times I feel like we ask too much of the people at Emmanuel. They give, and give and give. They know the joy of giving!

R.G. LeTourneau, one of the most successful inventors, engineers and businessmen of the last century gave 90 percent of his income back to God. He is purported to have said, “I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back – but God has a bigger shovel.” This is the joy of giving!

Sarah and I don’t have enough money to give it all at once, so we are shoveling out our gifts as God shovels them in. In the next couple of months, I’ll get paid for teaching opportunities that will allow me to give. I believe God gave us these extra dollars, so we could give most of it away. This is so much fun. This is the joy of giving!

“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25).

‘On the business’: McLaurin reflects on interim EC post ahead of 2022 SBC

NASHVILLE (BP) – Willie McLaurin expresses a difference between working “in the business” and working “on the business.”

“So many leaders, they’re working in the business. They’re putting out fires. They’re crossing the Ts and dotting the Is. That’s working in the business,” McLaurin said. “But I’ve learned how to work on the business.

“That just simply means that on a regular basis, I have to constantly plan [for] the future. I need to be thinking strategically about the future, vision casting, and just thinking futuristically about our work together. So somebody has to be thinking and working on the business.”

With 20 years of service in Southern Baptist leadership, much of it with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, McLaurin is a few months into his post as interim president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.

Between much travel and many meetings in serving an increasingly diverse body of Southern Baptists, he sat down with Baptist Press to reflect on issues related to his job and Southern Baptist life.

He spoke of his appreciation for being warmly received by Southern Baptists, and the joys and challenges of leadership at this particular time in history. The importance and health of the local church, committed pastors, entities he described as Christ-centered and a diligent Executive Committee staff were among topics.

He addressed unity in the SBC, as opposed to uniformity. He views the challenge of restoring unity across the SBC as among the most important faced.

“No network of churches is without its challenges. And I think if you would ask any number of Southern Baptists what the challenges are, that they will articulate those challenges from their culture, from their context or from their point of view,” he said. “We just need to make sure that as a network of churches, a network of Great Commission Baptists, that we are unified around the core issues.

“We’re unified around the Gospel. We’re unified around the fact that there are people that are lost and they’re on their way to hell and they need Jesus, and that we’re unified around the fact that we’ve got to get the Gospel to our nations and our neighborhood.”

McLaurin is accustomed to numbering his days, inspired by Psalm 90:12, that pleads for God to teach His people to number their days, that they might gain a heart of wisdom.

When he spoke with Baptist Press, McLaurin was on his 860th day of service to the EC, where he began in 2019 as vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization, and approaching his 100th day serving as interim CEO and president of the EC, a post EC officers appointed him to Feb. 1.

Serving his immediate family well empowers him to serve Southern Baptists, he said, taking time to praise his wife Antonia and daughters Sierra and SiChanna.

“I could not do what I’m doing without having an amazing wife. Antonia, she has walked with me throughout my entire ministry journey. But especially in these first 100 days, she’s been the person that I could talk to,” he said. “She listens to me, laughs with me, challenges me, she pushes me, and really, she manages some of the larger aspects of my life.

“When the opportunity came for me to be the interim, she said this: ‘If you don’t manage our home and our family well, then you don’t deserve the right to lead Southern Baptists.’ Every day, I’ve just really tried to love my wife and make sure she feels loved and not lonely, and to make sure that my children feel like rewards and not rentals.

“I learned this from home. When I serve my wife and serve my daughters, they empower me, and they empower me because they like it when I serve them. … And what I’ve tried to do, and what I want to continue to do, is I want to serve Southern Baptists. I want to serve our team well, then my team will continue to empower me. Why? Because they like it when I serve them.”

Southern Baptists are weeks away from the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting and its subsidiary events June 12-15 in Anaheim, Calif.

McLaurin expressed joy inspired by the numerous volunteers and generous Southern Baptists working to make the annual meeting a success, including committees, local churches and the EC staff.

“I’m anticipating that we come out of the meeting in Anaheim having approved the budget for sending the largest missions force to the world,” he said. “And then, I’m looking forward and anticipating a new slate of volunteers that will serve Southern Baptists on a number of boards and committees, hundreds of people who are serving on boards and committees.”

Uplifting and promoting the Cooperative Program around which Southern Baptists have united for nearly a century, churches from around the U.S. renewing friendships and fellowshipping onsite, and new relationships that will last a lifetime are among exciting things he describes as awaiting Southern Baptists in Anaheim.

Also in Anaheim, messengers are expected to respond to the Sexual Abuse Task Force report delving into the past 20 years of the Executive Committee’s handling of any complaints of sexual abuse that might have come before the EC. McLaurin has prayed for task force leaders and pastors Bruce Frank and Marshall Blalock, and SBC President Ed Litton, offering the EC’s support in making their work in leading the investigation as efficient and effective as possible.

McLaurin plans on reading the report as soon as it is publicly released, making sure he understands all that is contained in the report, and laying the groundwork to ensure that the EC staff is on the right path toward implementing any recommendations approved.

“If I can model strong, competent, courageous leadership and just reassure our larger convention that we’re here to serve, and we’re here to keep a laser-sharp focus on the Great Commission,” he said, “and provide what I call a non-anxious presence, then I really think that’s what our convention needs right now. … I need to be able to focus on the issues and separate how others may feel, and even separate how I may feel, particularly from an emotional perspective, and then be very objective and just really try to help move us forward in a path that is Christ-honoring.”

McLaurin is the first African American ever to lead an SBC entity, even in an interim capacity. He has expressed gratitude for the warm reception extended to him by entity leaders, pastors and Southern Baptists across the nation, and the EC’s unanimous affirmation of his appointment by EC officers.

“That unanimous affirmation by our trustees is a representation of a wide network of churches that are in the Southern Baptist Convention. Here’s what I’ve learned about Southern Baptists in this short time. They love Jesus, they love the church, they love each other, they have a heart to see lost people won to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Humbling for McLaurin is the ability to serve as interim EC CEO in a convention birthed in the era of slavery.

“Even though we are a diverse convention, the vast majority of our brothers and sisters are Anglo,” he said. “I’ve been kissed by nature’s sun. And we are a convention that, for the 177 years of its history, was started out of slavery, if you would. So now, to have a descendant of a slave to lead in the convention, and to see just the openness and receptivity of all kinds of people has just been absolutely humbling.

“And it really is a direct reflection of what I see in the local church.”

During his ministry, McLaurin has served in interim pastorates at more than 15 churches, all of them majority Anglo.

“And so, I’m not surprised by the response I’m getting from the larger convention,” McLaurin said, “because on a regular basis for the past 18 years, I’ve had the privilege of serving in churches that the majority doesn’t look like me. … I’ve been really, really encouraged by that, very hopeful for the future.”

Southern Baptists see baptisms, giving rebound in 2021

NASHVILLE—Southern Baptist congregations saw a rebound in the number of baptisms and an increase of $304 million in overall giving in 2021, both hopeful signs congregations are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southern Baptist congregations baptized 154,701 in 2021, a 26 percent increase from 123,160 reported in 2020, according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by Lifeway Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. Although baptisms are not back to pre-COVID levels, Southern Baptist leaders rejoice that numbers are moving in the right direction.

“I am incredibly proud of local churches that have stayed steady with evangelism during the pandemic,” said Willie McLaurin, SBC Executive Committee interim president and CEO. “The increase in baptisms highlights that local pastors and churches prioritize soul-winning, evangelism and discipleship. However, while we rejoice with the uptick in baptisms, more individuals still need to hear the life-changing Gospel of Jesus.”

While baptisms and giving rose, other key metrics declined, including membership, average weekly worship attendance and total number of Southern Baptist congregations.

The number of churches cooperating with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) increased by 22 to 47,614, while the number of church-type missions dropped 9.5 percent to 2,809, bringing the total number of congregations to 50,423. This is the fourth consecutive year of decline in total number of congregations after a peak of 51,920 in 2017. Multisite congregations reported 575 campuses where additional local church ministry takes place.

Membership in Southern Baptist congregations continued its long-term decline with a 3 percent drop from 14,089,947 in 2020 to 13,680,493 in 2021.

Attendance declines

Two years after COVID-19 caused shutdowns and delayed reopenings of worship services and other church activities, Southern Baptists are finally seeing the full impact of the pandemic on in-person attendance. Average weekly in-person worship attendance declined from 4,439,797 in 2020 to 3,607,530 in 2021 – an 18.75 percent decline. And the average attendance of in-person Sunday School, Bible study and small groups declined from 2,879,130 to 2,241,514 – a 22.15 percent decrease.

“We suspected the statistics from the 2020 ACP did not show the full impact of COVID-19 on attendance,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Every year we instruct congregations to calculate attendance averages for the weeks they meet in person. Churches that only met in person prior to the pandemic in 2020 would have reported average weekly attendance for those weeks. Many churches resumed meeting in person in 2021 and only then registered a pandemic-related drop in attendance.

“It’s not fun to document difficult seasons of ministry, but we know God is as faithful today as He has ever been. And these statistics continue to show the faithfulness and sacrifice of congregations during trying times.”

Online participation

For the first time in ACP history, churches were asked to include data for online worship and group participation. Southern Baptist congregations reported 1,447,313 in average weekly online worship participation and 198,122 in average online Sunday School/Bible study/small group participation.

“Many churches began sharing their worship services online during the pandemic,” McConnell said. “While some may only continue this practice until it’s safe for all to return, others have made it an ongoing part of their ministry or outreach.”

Giving and mission expenditures increase

Total church receipts, undesignated receipts, total mission expenditures and Great Commission Giving all increased in 2021. Total church receipts reported through the ACP increased 2.6 percent to $11.8 billion. Undesignated church receipts increased 2.6 percent to nearly $9.8 billion.

Congregations reported total mission expenditures of $1.1 billion and Great Commission Giving of $516 million.

“The increased generosity among churches is a high point in the Annual Church Profile. The increase in giving through the local church has accelerated our unified Great Commission efforts of mobilizing more missionaries and planting more churches,” McLaurin said. “For 97 years, Southern Baptist churches have maintained steadfastness in Cooperative Program giving, and the increase we see in baptisms and giving are reasons for us to pause and thank God for His faithfulness.”

Giving through the SBC’s Cooperative Program is not included in the ACP statistical summary. Those totals are available through Baptist state conventions and the SBC Executive Committee which process the mission gifts.

Reporting

Seven in 10 Southern Baptist churches participated in the 2021 ACP by reporting at least one item on the profile, up 1 percentage point from the 69 percent who reported last year, but still well below the 75 percent that reported in 2019.

Totals for various categories of the ACP were affected by the fact that not all state conventions asked congregations for all the information in a way that would allow proper year-to-year comparisons. The impacted categories and their 2021 totals include:

Total members: 13,680,493

Other membership additions: 124,356
Online weekly worship average participation: 1,447,313
Online Sunday School/Bible study/small group average participation: 198,122
Undesignated receipts: $9,774,807,128
Total receipts: $11,830,303,965
Total mission expenditures: $1,119,075,812
Great Commission Giving: $516,093,240

The ACP is compiled by Lifeway Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. Individual congregations voluntarily report their ACP data to their local Baptist associations and/or their state conventions. National statistics are compiled and released when all cooperating state conventions have reported.

See a state-by-state table of statistics here.