Recently, I posted on Voices about the number of SBC churches that die/close their doors. That research piqued my curiosity, and I decided to research why churches leave the SBC. It is important to understand that the Southern Baptist Convention consists of churches that have voluntarily joined themselves together. The SBC is often described as a voluntary association of churches. A church can decide to apply for membership in the SBC, and a member church can vote to leave (disaffiliate in the terminology of researchers).
How many churches do leave? I learned that many more churches close than leave. In 2022, Lifeway Research reported that 813 churches closed, while 17 left/disaffiliated. So, clearly, lots more churches die than leave. Still, the question remains. Why do churches leave the SBC?
The Issue of Women in Ministry
In recent years, the SBC has taken a strong stand against women serving as pastors of SBC churches. This includes a ban on calling female staff members “pastor.” This stand by the SBC has prompted two SBC megachurches to leave—Saddleback Church in California and Elevation Church in North Carolina. Surely, some other churches have made the same decision, but these two grabbed the headlines.
Local Church Autonomy
Some churches believe the SBC has increasingly infringed on local church autonomy. They see the SBC as dictating doctrine and practice to its member churches. The leadership of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas cited this as the main reason Park Cities left. Now, Park Cities Baptist Church is a big, wealthy church in Dallas. They did not join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship; rather, they made their affiliation with Texas Baptists (Baptist General Convention of Texas) primary. (For non-Texan readers, there are two Southern Baptist state conventions in Texas—the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the old moderate convention, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, the newer conservative state convention).
Disagreement with the SBC’s Direction and Culture
Some churches have left because they disagree with the Convention’s increasing identification with the Republican Party. Others have become frustrated by the SBC’s inept response to the sexual abuse scandal.
Align with a Moderate Baptist Entity
The Conservative Resurgence in the SBC began with the election of Adrian Rogers as president of the SBC in 1979. In the years that followed, the conservative faction won one presidential election after another until the Moderates gave up the fight and left. They organized the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) in 1991. By their count, 640 SBC churches left and joined the CBF. In 2002, the CBF claimed to have 1,800 member churches. Southern Baptist critics claimed that the number was inflated because the CBF counts any church that sends money as a member church. I know this to be true. My family and I were members of Hurstbourne Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. It was an SBC church, but we had one family that gave a designated gift to the CBF each month. The church office dutifully processed the gift, and we were counted as a CBF church, though we were not. I might add that some churches are dually aligned with both the SBC and the CBF.
Financial Concerns
In recent years, many Southern Baptists have expressed concern about the lack of financial transparency in the SBC. Beyond that, other churches have grown frustrated with what they view as denominational bureaucracy. In other words, they are frustrated with the way that state conventions retain a large percentage of money that is given to the Cooperative Program.
Internal Identity Shifts
Years ago, I learned of an SBC church that called a pastor who had been an independent Baptist. He believed the SBC was liberal theologically, and he did not agree with our system of financial support for missions. Over a period of several years, he persuaded that church to withdraw from the SBC and become an independent Baptist church.
Disfellowshipped by the SBC
Some churches have left the SBC because they were disfellowshipped (expelled) by the Convention. Several years ago, the SBC disfellowshipped a church in Georgia for racism. The SBC has also disfellowshipped churches for tolerating a sexual abuser as their pastor or staff member.
Of course, there are many individual Southern Baptists who have left the SBC to join a church of a different denomination or an independent church. I know we have several regular Voices commenters who are former Southern Baptists.
Perhaps you can think of a reason that I did not mention. I look forward to hearing from you.
