Changes

Southern Baptists are facing a membership decline that could shrink the nation's largest Protestant denomination by nearly half in 40 years, its convention president Rev. Johnny Hunt, warned in June 2009.<ref>Dylan T. Lovan, "Southern Baptist Convention opens in Kentucky," [http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLeJCkvML4zZQ0aAUjlwP_Vthi5wD990LDD03 Associated Press Jun 23, 2009]</ref>

Southern Baptists are facing a membership decline that could shrink the nation's largest Protestant denomination by nearly half in 40 years, its convention president Rev. Johnny Hunt, warned in June 2009.<ref>Dylan T. Lovan, "Southern Baptist Convention opens in Kentucky," [http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLeJCkvML4zZQ0aAUjlwP_Vthi5wD990LDD03 Associated Press Jun 23, 2009]</ref>

==History==

==History==

Few local SBC ministers considered issues related to the labor movement until 1930-50, long after Northern Protestant denominations had taken pro-union positions. In 1930, ayt the start of the [[Great Depression]], the SBC issued a statement supporting workers' rights, yet focusing on evangelization as a means of spiritual redemption that would offer relief from the problems of industrialization, rather than proposing structural solutions. The convention's 1938 report was largely drafted in response to fears of communism, urging capital and labor to cooperate to safeguard American political order. Steeped in the patriotism accompanying World War II, convention leaders' 1944 statement looked to the principles of democracy and Christian morality as panaceas for tense industrial relations. Amid postwar [[Congress of Industrial Organizations]] (CIO) drives to unionize Southern textile unions—drives that failed—SBC statements from 1946 to 1948 targeted the dangers of consumerism and decried an increasing polarization of unions and management, arguing that individuals must concentrate on the Kingdom of God and not substitute their personal spirituality with secular group solidarity.<ref>H. B. Cavalcanti, "God and Labor in the South: Southern Baptists and The Right to Unionize, 1930-1950." ''Journal of Church and State'' 1998 40(3): 639-660.</ref>

Few local SBC ministers considered issues related to the labor movement until 1930-50, long after Northern Protestant denominations had taken pro-union positions. In 1930, ayt the start of the [[Great Depression]], the SBC issued a statement supporting workers' rights, yet focusing on evangelization as a means of spiritual redemption that would offer relief from the problems of industrialization, rather than proposing structural solutions. The convention's 1938 report was largely drafted in response to fears of communism, urging capital and labor to cooperate to safeguard American political order. Steeped in the patriotism accompanying World War II, convention leaders' 1944 statement looked to the principles of democracy and Christian morality as panaceas for tense industrial relations. Amid postwar [[Congress of Industrial Organizations]] (CIO) drives to unionize Southern textile unions—drives that failed—SBC statements from 1946 to 1948 targeted the dangers of consumerism and decried an increasing polarization of unions and management, arguing that individuals must concentrate on the Kingdom of God and not substitute their personal spirituality with secular group solidarity.<ref>H. B. Cavalcanti, "God and Labor in the South: Southern Baptists and The Right to Unionize, 1930-1950." ''Journal of Church and State'' 1998 40(3): 639-660.</ref>

===Missionaries===

===Missionaries===