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I doubt there is any significant difference in "drop" among Southern Baptist compared to other denominations. They just happen to be one of the main groups that people like to complain about, though some of it is warranted.
For once jimmiej is not making an extraordinary claim and just sharing his personal experience. I can take that at face value. I certainly knew back in my day of individual churches that were growing and thriving, even in the fundagelical world, and not all of those were of the megachurch persuasion with some charismatic grifter at the helm. I don't think he's denying that the SBC is losing members faster than it's gaining them but that doesn't mean individual churches can't thrive within it.
Not to mention the guy from Canada is the one who brought it up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoreau424
Good catch! Maybe we need to start bad-mouthing those hosers to the north, eh? LOL
Us "hosers" have walked much further away from imaginary entities that control everything, except in the area where I live, and the religious zealots here would make someone from Mississippi appear down right heathen. Yeah, I am right in the buckle of our bible belt.
The sooner the world moves away from religion controlling people, the better off we are. Want proof? Look at the countries with the lowest religion participation (that are democracies) and then correlate them with the happiness index and any crime index you may want to choose.
Well yeah, they need every bit of news and tidbits for their cheerleading efforts. It doesn't matter who says it or whether there's a shred of truth present. As long as it has the damning sentiment, they've got to celebrate it. It's the same thing - just as in the opposite direction - of the highly religious who would support their church, no matter what. Tune out anything that doesn't lead to their bobbing of heads and "yes" agreements. Extremism, regardless of the outer clothing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BaptistFundie
Solid observation.
I'm sorry, you may want to obfuscate and deny, but the facts come from... wait for it.. the Southern Baptists themselves.
I'm sorry, you may want to obfuscate and deny, but the facts come from... wait for it.. the Southern Baptists themselves.
Good for them. I really don't ... wait for it... give a d@mn I'm thankful to be neither with the atheist rock throwers, nor the church defenders. Solidly outside of both circuses.
Last edited by Thoreau424; 05-13-2022 at 04:33 PM..
It's an eight fold increase over 25-30 years. Not unheard of. There are churches ranging up to about 30,000 members and when it comes at least to the unaffiliated / non-denominational (about 40% of megachurches), "replication" or "reproduction" or "church planting" is also a value.
Although those bigger churches often have multiple "campuses".
Of course the story is rather different in your average corner church in rural 'Murica. Rural and urban evangelicals are very different beasts. The former tend to be much more stereotypically insular and to achieve the kind of growth in urban areas that the megachurches have, they must be a lot more clued into pop culture and more "street" if you will, more use of marketing methods and techniques normally applied to large business brands -- much more sophisticated approach.
Good for them. I really don't ... wait for it... give a d@mn I'm thankful to be neither with the atheist rock throwers, nor the church defenders. Solidly outside of both circuses.
Seeing don't give a damn, why did you even bother commenting in the first place. Seems strange that you would.
It's an eight fold increase over 25-30 years. Not unheard of. There are churches ranging up to about 30,000 members and when it comes at least to the unaffiliated / non-denominational (about 40% of megachurches), "replication" or "reproduction" or "church planting" is also a value.
Although those bigger churches often have multiple "campuses".
Of course the story is rather different in your average corner church in rural 'Murica. Rural and urban evangelicals are very different beasts. The former tend to be much more stereotypically insular and to achieve the kind of growth in urban areas that the megachurches have, they must be a lot more clued into pop culture and more "street" if you will, more use of marketing methods and techniques normally applied to large business brands -- much more sophisticated approach.
We have only one campus. Getting ready to build a new sanctuary (COVID delayed that). And we’re debt-free.
It's an eight fold increase over 25-30 years. Not unheard of. There are churches ranging up to about 30,000 members and when it comes at least to the unaffiliated / non-denominational (about 40% of megachurches), "replication" or "reproduction" or "church planting" is also a value.
Although those bigger churches often have multiple "campuses".
Of course the story is rather different in your average corner church in rural 'Murica. Rural and urban evangelicals are very different beasts. The former tend to be much more stereotypically insular and to achieve the kind of growth in urban areas that the megachurches have, they must be a lot more clued into pop culture and more "street" if you will, more use of marketing methods and techniques normally applied to large business brands -- much more sophisticated approach.
It could be true. It seems unrealistic to me.
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I'm thankful to be neither with the atheist rock throwers, nor the church defenders. Solidly outside of both circuses.
