[1]SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (BP)–The International Mission Board’s Annual Statistical Report for 2007 (covering calendar year 2006) includes a summary of church-growth indicators reported by Southern Baptist missionaries and their overseas Baptist partners.
Reports in 11 key categories follow:
— New churches –- 25,497 (total churches -– 157,890)
— New outreach groups -– 12,856 (total outreach groups –- 55,693)
— Baptisms -– 609,968
— Church membership –- 9,858,018
[2]— Participants in church Bible teaching –- 4,640,103
— New believers in discipleship training –- 567,413
— Church members in discipleship training –- 1,264,329
— Nonresidential leadership training participants -– 202,028
— Residential leadership training participants -– 20,576
— Overseas Baptist partner home missionaries -– 2,997
— Overseas Baptist partner international missionaries –- 1,926
The statistics were released during the International Mission Board trustees’ Nov. 6-7 meeting in Springfield, Ill.
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Reported by the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.