Sat, May 17 2008
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Published May 01, 2008 10:14 am - The Southern Baptist denomination is the second-largest church affiliation in the U.S., behind the Roman Catholic Church. Southern Baptist tradition strong locally By TEDDYE SNELL TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — The Southern Baptist denomination is the second-largest church affiliation in the U.S., behind the Roman Catholic Church.
Many may be surprised to learn, then, that recent research indicates a dip in new members and baptisms. According to a recent report by the Associated Press, baptisms in the Southern Baptist faith have dropped to the lowest levels since 1987, continuing a three-year trend. The information was included in an annual report released by LifeWay Christian Resources, the publishing sector of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention. Tahlequah is home to a number of Southern Baptist churches, the largest being First Baptist Church. Contrary to national trends, Ed Hale, associate pastor at FBC, indicated his flock is burgeoning. “We’re actually up in baptisms,” he said “Our membership is approximately 1,031 right now.” In the AP report, SBC President Rev. Frank Page said he believes the decline may be due to an overall perception that its members are “mean-spirited, hurtful and angry.” The report indicated a drop of 40,000 members since 2006. To become a member of FBC, a person would have to be baptized in the church; and have a letter from another Baptist church recommending the individual for membership, or a statement from the potential member saying he is transferring from a church where the beliefs are in line with FBC, according to Hale. (The process of transferring membership from one Baptist church to another is known as “moving one’s letter.”) Hale, a self-professed follower of the evangelical school of thought, believes it takes effort to be strong, healthy church. “I think the reason baptisms may be down is because they’re not going out in their areas and ministering to people,” he said. “We do that here. We knock on doors, we make phone calls, we write letters. We still do all of that.” The effort is part of a FBC program called GROW: God Rewards Our Work. “We try very hard to reach out to people in the community,” he said. “Not just members, but anyone who may be suffering. We want to grow healthy families in our community and to do that, we have to be a healthy church family.” Beth Herrington, a member of FBC, believes the church is constantly growing, and agrees its community efforts could be the reason. “Our local membership is not declining, and we have been [involved] in a huge building campaign, so that is something,” she said. 
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