SBC Baptisms Rise as Adults Make Up More Than Half of Total Last Year

SBC Baptisms Rise as Adults Make Up More Than Half of Total Last Year

Adults represented more than half of the 263,000-plus baptisms recorded in Southern Baptist Convention churches in 2025, according to a new Lifeway Research analysis. A report released Thursday found that adults ages 30 and older accounted for 33% of SBC baptisms last year, followed by youth at 25%, children at 22% and young adults at 20%. The figures mark a shift from earlier decades, when children — defined as those age 11 and younger — made up a larger share of baptisms.
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    President Donald Trump and SIM International have announced that American missionary pilot Kevin Rideout has been freed after being abducted in Niger last October. “Kevin Rideout, a wonderful Christian Missionary, is back in United States Custody,” President Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday morning after initial reports of Rideout’s release emerged, citing unnamed officials.
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    Some 341 young leaders stepped forward at the Arise Asia 2026 Congress to commit their lives to long-term cross-cultural mission, answering what organizers described as one of the most significant altar calls in the movement's history. The moment came on the evening of July 30, the fourth day of a five-day gathering that drew 4,278 participants (out of 4,808 who registered) from 64 countries to Christ's Commission Fellowship (CCF) Central in Manila.

Detained Chinese Pastor Says Prosecutor Cited His Children to Pressure Confession

A Chinese house church pastor being held amid a broader crackdown on his congregation says authorities attempted to use concern for his young children to compel him to confess. Pastor Liu Zhenbin described the alleged pressure in a letter written from detention, according to ChinaAid, a U.S.-based organization that documents religious persecution in China.
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