Recently, I posted about the reasons to plant new churches. I wrote that one reason we need to plant new churches is to replace those that die (close their doors). That prompted me to do some research on dying churches in the SBC, and I’m sharing it with you in this post.
Church Closure Statistics
A number of SBC churches close each year. Here are some statistics from recent years.
2020—845
2021—780
2022—984
2023—292
2024—183
(Source: Lifeway Research, years 2020-2023, and Baptist Press for 2024)
I attribute the higher numbers from 2020-2022 to the impact of the COVID pandemic. During those years, I was on the Missions Committee of the Kauf-Van Baptist Association, which is just east of Dallas, Texas. During COVID, we saw four small churches close their doors. That was true all over the country.
You should not think that only the Southern Baptist Convention has experienced a decline in the number of churches. Ryan Burge reports that from 1960-2025, the United Church of Christ (not to be confused with the Church of Christ in the South and Southwest), a mainline Protestant denomination, declined from 8,000 churches to 4,485 in 2025. Lots of Protestant churches have disbanded in recent years, and the number will surely increase in the future.
Reasons for SBC Church Decline
Loss of Vision and Mission
Those who plant churches do so with a vision of what the church will become and do. Once that initial vision is fulfilled, many churches become aimless. Robert Dale, in his excellent book, “To Dream Again,” says churches must gain a new dream (vision) in order to avoid decline and death. Churches also struggle because they forget their mission—to obey the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). Declining churches often become introverted, fixating on survival rather than emphasizing evangelism and missions.
Failure to Reach New Generations
During my years of service as a seminary professor, I did a lot of interim pastorates and supply preaching. Many of the churches that invited me were composed of older folks. The nursery and preschool areas were empty, and the baptistery was dusty. These churches had failed to retain youth and young adults. Of course, empty rooms and a dusty baptistery pointed toward a bleak future. Why did they lose younger members? Sometimes it was due to economics. In Eastern Kentucky, the coal mines closed, and young people left the mountains to find work elsewhere. Sometimes, the problem is worship style and/or programming.
If a church stops reaching and retaining younger people, the average age of its members will rise each year. Eventually, there won’t be enough new members to replace those who move away or pass away.
Refusing to Change
Churches must change or risk dying. I don’t mean they should change their theology, but they should change their programs and methods. Churches that refuse to change choose to die. I said that to a television reporter in Louisville some years ago. After the taping stopped, he asked me a personal question. He said, “I grew up in a little Baptist church in the mountains of North Carolina. That church had a wonderful spirit and fellowship. Why would it need to change?” I replied, “I’m sure in 1955 your TV station had the best equipment and programming of any station in Louisville. How would your station do today with that same equipment and programming?” He sighed and responded, “I surrender. I understand.”
Lack of Discipling and Leadership Development
New church leaders come from the church’s pool of disciples (trained, mature believers). If a church does not disciple its members, then there are few potential leaders to enlist.
Internal Conflict
I am a life-long Southern Baptist. I love the SBC—its churches, members, and leaders. Still, I must admit that Southern Baptists are bad to fight. We fight about leadership, doctrine, money, change, and even the color of the new carpet. Fighting can deeply divide a congregation. When conflict becomes the main focus, people leave. Some leave because their side in the church fight lost the showdown vote. Some folks leave to escape the conflict. As the conflict continues for years, the church loses more and more members until those who remain cannot maintain the church.
Poor Pastoral Leadership or No Pastoral Leadership
More than 30 years ago, I served as the interim pastor of a county-seat First Baptist Church in Kentucky. During that year we averaged 200 in Sunday School and 300 in worship. When I left, I believed the church was in good shape. Fifteen years later, we returned to visit the area, and we went to worship at that church. To my dismay, only 30 people worshiped that Sunday. A deacon who remained from my time, asked me what they could do to survive. I advised him that the church could revert to mission status and request assistance from the Kentucky Baptist Convention. I asked a friend and local pastor what had happened to the church. He told me they had called one ineffective pastor after another, and the membership dwindled away.
Sociological Mismatch with the Community
Sometimes, the neighborhood changes, but the church does not change—adapt to the new population. When that happens, the church gradually becomes detached from its neighbors. I saw an example of this in Memphis. A neighborhood church there invited me to preach on missions and promote the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. As I drove to the church, I noticed that all the stores and businesses in the area had signs and advertisements in Spanish. When I arrived at the church, I encountered about 40 older white folks. They were worshiping in the church fellowship hall. They had an auditorium that seated 500, but they could not afford to heat it. So, they met in the fellowship hall. After the service, one of their deacons approached me and said, “We know our church is dying. When should we close it?” Well, why was that church dying? It failed to adjust to the transition in the neighborhood. The neighborhood became Hispanic, but the church did not offer worship or programs in Spanish. It became an Anglo island in a Hispanic sea.
Economic and Demographic Changes
In 1900, more than 50 percent of the U.S. population lived on farms. By the year 2000, the figure was 2 percent. In the old days, Southern Baptists started lots of rural churches to serve those farm families, but now those folks have moved to urban areas. That’s one reason why many rural churches are struggling—the population has relocated. When I served in Southeastern Kentucky, many “coal camp” churches were barely hanging on. Communities, called “coal camps,” had developed around coal mines. Kentucky Baptists planted churches to serve the people who lived in those communities. Now, most of those mines have closed. Younger adults have departed to look for work elsewhere, leaving only older folks behind in the camp and the church. Some years ago, the Louisville airport expanded, and all the buildings in the expansion zone were demolished. One building belonged to a Southern Baptist church. The church disbanded, and most of the members joined a nearby church that survived the demolition.
Financial Decline
Usually, the immediate cause for a church closure is finances. That is, the church cannot pay its bills any longer. When that happens, the church is forced to close. Of course, the financial problem is a symptom of other problems.
Spiritual Stagnation
Many Christian leaders say the deepest issue is spiritual: when prayer, discipleship, and genuine faith growth fade, the church becomes more like a social club than a spiritual community.
What reasons did I omit?
(I used artificial intelligence in my research. Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks?)
Note to Readers: I did not address the reasons why churches leave the Southern Baptist Convention. I plan to do that in a later post.
