Baptists' membership, mission giving decline

NASHVILLE, Tenn. » Southern Baptist churches say membership and donations to missions dropped last year, but baptisms increased after a four-year decline.

Southern Baptist Convention membership fell 0.42 percent to about 16.2 million, and Sunday School enrollment dropped slightly to about 7.6 million in 2009, according to a church survey released by Baptist Press.

Giving to missions totaled $1.3 billion in 2009, a decline of 1.8 percent. The denomination blamed the poor economy for the decrease.

Still, churches reported some good news: a 2.2 percent jump in baptisms to 349,737 last year. The previous four-year decline had been deeply troubling to the nation's largest Protestant group, which had been trying to re-energize its evangelism.

Thom Rainer, head of LifeWay Christian Resources, which worked with state Baptist conventions to compile the annual statistics, said that while the increase in baptisms is encouraging, he is troubled by the poor showing on other fronts.

“;The decline in membership across our denomination, along with the drop in Sunday school enrollment, indicate that Southern Baptists continue to be distracted from—or indifferent toward—the command of Jesus to make disciples,”; Rainer told Baptist Press. “;I pray that these discouraging numbers sound a wake-up call to all of us.”;

Abuse-suit plaintiff says church sitting on papers

HARTFORD, Conn. » The lawyer for a woman alleging a Roman Catholic priest molested her when she was a child says that Connecticut church leaders are trying to keep hundreds of documents secret, including a letter to Pope Benedict XVI when he was a cardinal.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe, wants the documents for her Superior Court lawsuit against the Norwich Diocese. She says the Rev. Thomas Shea abused her in the 1970s when he was at St. Joseph's Church in New London. Shea died in 2006.

Her lawyer, Robert Reardon, is asking a judge to decide whether to release 661 pages of documents that the diocese says are privileged, including a 2005 letter about Shea from Norwich Bishop Michael Cote to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now pope.

A diocesan spokesman says the matter is confidential.

California bill targets Texas textbook revisions

SACRAMENTO, Calif. » A bill seeking to protect California social studies textbooks from religious revisions advocated in Texas has cleared a legislative hurdle.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 6-3 in favor of the legislation on Monday. The measure would require the state Board of Education to examine new textbooks for curriculum revisions approved in March by the Texas school board.

The Texas recommendations include the claim that the nation's Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles. They also diminish Thomas Jefferson's role in world history because he advocated for the separation of church and state.

The bill's supporters say it is a necessary precaution. Decisions in Texas can affect textbook content nationwide because Texas is one of publishers' biggest clients.

The legislation, SB 1451, now moves to the full Senate.