Southern Baptist membership sank last year to its lowest level since 1973. But the nation’s largest Protestant denomination saw increases in worship attendance and baptisms. Those results were released Tuesday by the denomination's research affiliate, Lifeway Research. Membership fell by 3% to 12.3 million, continuing a nearly two-decade decline. At the same time, weekly attendance was up by nearly 4% to 4.5 million. The number of baptisms were up 5%, to more than 250,000. That's above pre-pandemic levels. The denomination often uses as baptism as a key measure of how many people are being brought into the faith.