We are nearly all Baptists now in American Christianity.
According to legend, Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate, having failed to suppress Christianity, at his death uttered: “Thou has conquered, oh thou Galilean.”
Nobody has ever tried to suppress Baptists in America since colonial church establishments were overthrown. But the Baptists and the non-denominationals who are mostly Baptist in all but name have indeed conquered. Nearly every other branch of U.S. Christianity is shrinking. The Baptist ethos is prevailing. That ethos includes independent churches governed congregationally with pastors ordained by their congregations with a spiritual authority, believers’ baptism instead of infant baptism, the centrality of pulpit preaching, deemphasis on liturgy, typically more contemporary in worship, and more often than not, affirming once saved, always saved, precluding a fall from grace. Arguably, even more than other Protestants, the Baptist ethos stresses the individual’s direct relationship with God.
The Baptist ascendancy was further revealed by recent seminary statistics, showing that about two thirds of the top 25 Protestant seminaries are Baptist or Baptist adjacent, with roots in Baptist ethos. There are two Methodist schools, two Presbyterian schools, and a few others. But Baptists reign. Among the twenty, there is only one Mainline Protestant seminary, all the others are evangelical. Fifty years ago, the opposite was likely the case.
Liberal Protestantism has collapsed and been displaced by evangelicalism. But evangelicalism is becoming post-denominational and Baptist dominated. Pentecostalism is vibrant and growing. The only major growing U.S. denomination is the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination. Pentecostals have a more Methodist view of salvation, but their ethos is more Baptist. Their churches are usually, although not always, governed congregationally. They practice believers’ baptism. They deemphasize liturgy. Their worship is often more contemporary. A Protestant who emerged from a 70-year slumber and walked into most churches today might wonder how they all became mostly Baptist.
The Baptist conquest of America is not universal, of course. The Roman Catholic Church remains America’s largest church although declining, like nearly all Protestant denominations. Hispanic immigration had long sustained Catholic numbers in America. But Hispanic immigrants are increasingly not church affiliated, or they become evangelical, often Pentecostal. There remain special niche churches rooted in historic Protestant traditions.
The fast-declining Episcopal Church is down to 1.5 million. The more vibrant but much smaller conservative Anglican Church in North America is 125,000. Collectively they are less than one half of one percent of the population. The same is true for Presbyterians. The fast-declining liberal Presbyterian Church USA is down to 1.1 million. The more vital but much smaller Presbyterian Church in America has 390,000. So total Presbyterians, even including a few other tiny denominations, are not much more than one half of one percent of the U.S. population. Anglicans and Presbyterians, although few in number, do have a disproportionate public voice. They include lots of smart and accomplished people. Lutherans are not much more numerous and much less prominent.
Theological liberalism killed most of the larger Protestant denominations, especially United Methodism. Methodists were the largest religious force in 19th century America and the largest Protestant force in the 20th century. But their largest body, the United Methodist Church, has effectively committed suicide, shrinking from 11 million in 1969 to likely now about 5 million, as it suffers from schism and accelerating flight. To what extent the new Global Methodist Church can recapture the old grandeur remains to be seen. But even at best, it would take generations for Methodism to approach its former force. It long ago surrendered to the Baptists without realizing it.
Why did Baptists prevail? It should be noted that the Baptist victory comes despite the decline of its by far largest denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, which has been shrinking for over 15 years and has lost 3 million members with no end in sight. It remains America’s biggest Protestant and arguably America’s last great denomination. Its seminaries remain America’s largest. But many of its churches deemphasize or disguise their Baptist identity and meld increasingly into the nondenominational world. The Southern Baptists institutionally may face irreversible decline but the Baptist ethos surges forward.
Why so? The tight connectionalism of Methodism, guided by bishops, and undergird by denominational ownership of church properties, was said to aid Methodist ascendancy in the 19th century. But it arguably helped fuel its demise. The independence of congregations with a Baptist ethos is apparently more conducive to late 20th century church planting and religious entrepreneurship. The Baptist ethos is sometimes not very intellectual. But importantly it speaks powerfully to regular people who want practical faith with direct access to knowledge of God and His word. “Born again” entered the American popular lexicon in the 1970s with evangelical and Baptist ascendancy, further popularized by the election of Jimmy Carter, who advertised his Baptist rebirth.
What are the social and political implications of Baptist ascendancy via non-denominationalism? American secularization would be far more advanced without its influence. Evangelical sway exists because of it. But non-denominationalism is increasingly disconnected from Protestant and Christian tradition. By stressing the individual believer’s access to God through the Bible alone, the grandeur of church tradition, which includes political theology, is often discarded. Many are left believing the Bible will offer detailed public policy counsel. If charismatic or Pentecostal, they might expect the Holy Spirit to give such counsel. The lack of church hierarchy often removes mediation and informed leadership. This method is populist and sometimes democratic but often anarchic.
But new dispensations of Protestant growth are almost always chaotic. Usually, wisdom and order prevail out of the chaos. May it come sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, kudos to Baptists. They are often doomsayers and pessimists. They like to fight among themselves. But without knowing it, Baptists have conquered indeed.
Comment by Larry Jackson on September 26, 2023 at 8:08 pm
Maybe because they’re more biblical? Believers baptism. Elder led. No hierarchy. Emphasis on preaching apostolic doctrine. Lots of new church plantings. Missionary fervor. Sounds a lot like the Book of Acts to me.
Comment by Tim McGonagle on September 26, 2023 at 9:50 pm
I asked my Baptist friend awhile back how was it over at his church? His answer, “Well the only problem we have at our church is all those old Methodist over here trying to run the show!”
I told him, “We just call those folks, our Methodist Missionaries.”
Comment by Pastor Mike on September 27, 2023 at 6:59 am
It was shortly into my current pastor appointment that I realized our church was essentially Baptist with a UMC sticker. Congregational decisions, few infant baptisms, Biblical authority, and a strong sense of evangelism permeated the belief ethos. I can count on one hand the number of times I preached a Wesleyan theology. The only things “United Methodist” were the hymnals and the sign out front. The UMC sticker was ripped off on June 30, 2023, to discover our true roots – an independent and non-denominational church.
Comment by Dan W on September 27, 2023 at 7:08 am
In 7th Grade (1975) I enrolled in a new school, a private Christian school run by an Independent Baptist church in the Deep South. I was promptly informed by my classmates I was going to Hell. Methodists were seen as lost souls. I was terrified, and my parents, lifelong Methodists and quite upset, met with the Principal. A very understanding, wise Christian, he convinced them to keep me in his school. I’m glad he did, but it was rough going for a few years. I was also counseled by our Methodist Pastor, and was assured of my salvation. I worshipped Methodist style on Sundays, all day, and was instructed by and worshipped with Baptists weekdays, excepting holidays and Summer vacation. It was a good school with wonderful teachers. I assured my parents years later that they picked the right school, and I was grateful. I understand what Mark Tooley means when he says the Baptists conquered, but the Baptists that taught/counseled me in the 1970s would not recognize these Baptists.
Comment by David on September 27, 2023 at 7:26 am
‘“There’s no other way to say this: The decline the SBC is experiencing is at a scope and scale that has not been seen in any other Protestant denomination in American history,” said religion researcher Ryan Burge, who was raised Southern Baptist and now is an American Baptist pastor. He is considered one of the foremost authorities in America on the demographics of religion.’—Baptist News Global (11 May 2023).
https://baptistnews.com/article/in-sbc-annual-statistics-even-the-good-news-isnt-that-good/
Comment by PFSchaffner on September 27, 2023 at 8:40 am
On a church search (fleeing a collapsing UMC church) this month, I observe: (1) even more than politics, all church-going is local: the churches within ten miles are what really matter. (2) Almost all churches try their best to hide their affiliations (if any): one has to dig to discover them. (3) Churches differ wildly in the ratio of grey-beards to babies. (4) Alongside the traditional theological criteria, one notices a kind of rigidity index (observable in the degree of suspicion in the air); a ‘grace’ vs. ‘justice’ index (observable in the number of times those two words are uttered); and a ‘performative’ vs. ‘participatory’ index, which overlaps and is perhaps more important than the ‘contemporary’ vs. ‘traditional’ index. In ‘performative’ services (often contemporary), the congregation applauds; in ‘participatory’ services, they sing. Baptists are traditionally participatory, but in this respect they seem to be losing out to the performers. In our area, FWIW, the growing church, with three ‘plants’, is Reformed (RCA): a very high youth index and grace index, medium rigidity, high performance.
Comment by David on September 27, 2023 at 9:01 am
The triumph of Baptists is not surprising in a country so heavily influenced by the liberalism of John Locke. Locke’s voluntaristic ecclesiology focusses heavily on the subjective faith of individual members rather than on a covenant community of those called to faith in the living God through Christ. Infant baptism is a vivid sign of God’s grace coming to us before we are even aware of it. Adolescent or adult baptism reflects the Lockean notion of church as a collection of freely choosing individuals gathering to worship God as they think fit. Small wonder it has caught on in the United States. Locke’s social contractarian political theory is of one piece with his ecclesiology. The irony is that many of the members of these baptistic congregational churches were fleeing the confessional liberalism in their former denominations only to find themselves in church communities reflecting the larger liberal social ethos.
Comment by Pastor Mike on September 27, 2023 at 10:40 am
“The tight connectionalism of Methodism, guided by bishops, and undergird by denominational ownership of church properties, was said to aid Methodist ascendancy in the 19th century. But it arguably helped fuel its demise.”
UMC denominational ownership of our church properties came as a nasty shock to some of our congregates when we started down the path of disaffiliation. This helped fuel the anger and betrayal many felt toward the denominational misuse of church apportionments. The bishop’s heavy-handed and draconian measures imposed during Covid was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” as it drove some members to neighboring Baptist churches and others to simply quit and never return. Our congregational attendance numbers have slowly increased since disaffiliation. Praise God!
Comment by John67 on September 27, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Crikey! “The Baptist ethos is sometimes not very intellectual.”
Maybe because the founder was a carpenter who called fishermen.
Comment by David on September 27, 2023 at 2:59 pm
“Carpenter” is not the best translation of the Greek “tecton,” a person engaged in building or construction.
Comment by betsy on September 27, 2023 at 4:22 pm
Read the book “The Godless Crusade” that documents the rise of white populist nationalism in western countries and how it is hijacking Christianity. Here in America, the book documents how it has invaded evangelicalism and the Southern Baptist Convention. Elsewhere, a Reformed Church pastor expressed concern that it is invading that denomination.
Comment by W. Moore on September 27, 2023 at 6:31 pm
Five hundred years ago, Christians realized that a large bureaucracy prone to corruption and theological and spiritual drift was not a good way to run a church. Many years later, Christians have learned that a smaller bureaucracy is also prone to corruption, and theological and spiritual drift is not a good way to run a church. While smaller church structures may not be as sophisticated, they don’t do as much damage when individuals misuse power and wander from the faith. I have long championed the United Methodist denomination and the benefits of a denomination, but the events of the last ten years have me questioning my stance. Maybe this is the 500-year shift that some have anticipated.
Comment by betsy on September 27, 2023 at 6:36 pm
And as for our faith having an intellectual component:
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 And he said to him,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38 “This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22: 34-40
Comment by Tony L Hawkins on September 27, 2023 at 8:33 pm
The SBC does have a rich history, except for their ancestors–like the Methodist split–who promoted slavery. And how have they addressed the lingering smoke and stink from that unresolved issue? In fact, how have white churches regardless of label, dealt with this issue? And how is the SBC dealing with the investigation regarding mistreatment of women? How has the faith they profess influenced their politics? Have not many supported Trump and the far-right Republican agenda? Are they also in danger of wrapping the cross in the US flag? Of course, any denomination–and any of us as believers–have our blind sides. Yes, America is great. But does this stir humility and gratitude or arrogance and pride? I’ve had to ask myself, “Am I an American Christian?” or a “Christian American?” I’ve also pondered the notion that if America is great–at whose expense??? The American Indian and other peoples of color have paid a price to help us attain that greatness. Of course, we must examine again how Jesus defined greatness. All of us must examine ourselves: Is the Jesus we proclaim the Jesus we follow? We recite the Great Commandment, but it makes me nervous that just maybe God judges us how much we love him by how much we love our neighbor!! And perhaps God will judge our nation not just over the significant issues of sexuality and abortion, but the more urgent message of Matthew 25: Are we sheep or goats?? May God use this time of chaos among his people to pour out his spirit that his people may be more like Jesus.
Comment by E. on September 27, 2023 at 9:37 pm
I can’t speak to denominations or their doctrine — what seminars are teaching or professing. All I know is that when I read the Bible it seems clear to me that what’s mentioned in this article is exactly what Jesus, the Father, and the New Testament authors wrote and spoke.
Jesus welcomed little children, but he didn’t baptize them. Jesus repeatedly said, “Repent.” A two-year-old had little to repent for and even less of a concept of what repentance means. I’ve been a Methodist my whole life and I’ve yet to see anyone be baptized into the Holy Spirit. There is the occasional dipping into a bowl at the age of 12 if one wasn’t baptized as an infant, but if the parents can prove a child was “dipped” as an infant, my church skips this step.
It is seems to me that many of the denominations have created “religions” that have some elements of what Jesus said and practiced overlaid with the ideas of men.
When my UMC church denies the words of Jesus and the Father next May, I’ll resign my membership, but I doubt I’ll join another church. I will simply continue to meet with others who believe the words of Scripture, are filled with the Holy Spirit, and believe that Jesus is alive today in his Body as he was 2,000 years ago.
I don’t judge anyone who enjoys the large assemblies that pass for worship, but for me, what Jesus and the Twelve did seems more like what the Father had in mind.
Comment by Gordon Jewett on September 27, 2023 at 10:20 pm
Please check your Elizabethan or KJV English:
Second person singular past tense to have: Thou hast 🙂
Comment by Paul Zesewitz on September 28, 2023 at 10:39 am
Not every Baptist group is ‘conquering’. Two churches near me that are affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA have closed and a third went non denominational.
Comment by Charles Whatley on September 28, 2023 at 2:50 pm
We United Methodists died from “political fever” which created two clergy groups in the church. One group played the political game and rose in the ranks regardless of what they believed or did and the second group never rose in the ranks regardless of what they believed or did… meaning neither group had any reason to believe or do anything.
So we ended up with people at the top who believed and did nothing and people at the bottom who believed the Bible and worked to build their congregation simply because they loved the Lord.
And finally the system collapsed…
Comment by Pastor Mike on September 28, 2023 at 4:28 pm
@ Charles Whatley,
I would parcel the clergy groups further. The UMC created (at least) a two-tiered clergy system – the ordained elders and the licensed local pastors. (LLPs)The ordained elders are granted “full” clerical authority to minister the sacraments, perform baptisms, and officiate marriages within and outside their appointed churches. The LLPs clerical responsibilities are restricted to their appointed churches only. Even then, an LLP cannot bless the elements for Holy Communion – that requires an ordained elder. LLPs cannot serve Holy Communion to shut ins. The LLPs are treated as second-rate ministers. Unfortunately, I know these facts from firsthand experience.
Comment by David on September 28, 2023 at 6:55 pm
@Gordon Jewett, quite right. Not only that, but “thou” is a singular pronoun. The plural form would be ye/you.
Comment by Different Steve on September 29, 2023 at 3:49 pm
The Decline of Mainline Churches in America (2023)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN7kmVjUGZA
Has a chart comparing the worst declining denominations. Surprisingly (to me) the Episcopal Church is not near the top of the list. Also surprising: the Amish are growing rapidly.
Comment by George on September 29, 2023 at 8:12 pm
David, give it a rest. You add nothing to the conversation. Only your personal bitterness towards Christians comes from your lips. Start going to church and make some friends.
You’re in bad need for a friend. A Christian friend. We are praying for you.
Comment by David Gingrich on September 30, 2023 at 9:08 am
“The Baptist ethos is sometimes not very intellectual. But importantly it speaks powerfully to regular people.” Quite an arrogant (and ignorant) statement.
Signed,
A relatively new SBC member
Comment by Colin Ross on October 1, 2023 at 9:26 am
Growing up in the baptist fortress of SC was pretty bad. I cant tell you how relieving it is to see just a fraction of their unspeakable crimes against children coming to light. Most of the strongest atheist I’ve ever met come from the baptist private schools in the south! No one has ever met anyone creepier than a youth pastor.
Comment by History Guy on June 5, 2024 at 12:24 pm
I am former rural Southern Baptist descended from generations of Baptists, raised in a devout household, and who at one time performed Baptist missionary work overseas. I became an adult convert to Catholicism just a few years ago, much to the surprise of my numerous Baptist relatives.
Here’s my take on this fascinating topic. The isolationist and decentralized bent that’s long been a part of Baptist ecclesiology has some serious downsides. The extreme localization tends to cut parishioners off from an expansive and rich intellectual and theological history, and tradition, leaving churches and their people largely to fend for themselves. It conveys a vague sense that Jesus establishes his Church and ascends into heaven, and suddenly its 2024, and don’t worry about all the stuff that happened in the middle. This culturally-enabled amnesia is why it is appropriate to say, “The Baptist ethos is sometimes not very intellectual.” The statement does NOT mean Baptists are dumb knuckle-draggers. Far from it. Rather, it means the importance of such history is downplayed. The result is a willful impoverishment of the Christian experience that quickly becomes entrenched as predisposition.
To be clear, intellectualism can be found in Baptist circles, but the individual has to seek it out, and even then such pursuits are met with indifference. Plus, there’s no institutional mechanism in isolationist and decentralized Baptist ecclesiology to redirect a person who has begun to adopt beliefs contrary to accepted to theology, because it’s the individual who maintains sole authority to interpret Scripture. This is the curse of atomization and fragmentation. It can lead to a lonely and self-centered spiritual existence.