Sixty Percent of Adult Baptisms in SBC Churches are “Rebaptisms”

In John Hammett’s book, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology, he cites a 1993 study done by the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention which revealed that “the majority of adult baptisms (60%) could be called rebaptisms. Some were baptisms of those who had previously been baptized as infants, but 36 percent of these adult baptisms were of those who had been previously baptized in Southern Baptist churches.” They sought “rebaptism” because they came to be convinced that they were not regenerate at the time of their first baptism. Hammett goes on:

By way of contrast, Baptists in other parts of the world do not have this problem. In Romania, while there is no rule, no one would think of asking for baptism prior to the age of fourteen. The same is true of many Baptist groups in Africa and Asia. I was struck by the practices of Baptist churches I saw in Brazil. Upon profession of faith, a new convert was placed in a new convert’s class for from six to thirteen weeks. The central purpose of this class was to make as sure as humanly possible that the individuals involved had understood the gospel and were making valid professions of faith. After the class, the next step in the process of preparation for baptism was speaking to the congregation. Candidates described their experience of conversion and answered questions from the pastor and congregation concerning what they believed about Christ, their experience of conviction of sin, and their understanding of the gospel. Only then did the congregation vote to baptize the individuals. The contrast with the lack of care concerning baptismal candidates in Baptist churches in North America is striking. Regenerate church membership began to disappear when Baptist churches in North America began to baptize and bring in members who gave no visible evidence of regeneration.

HT: Thabiti Anyabwile