• The LifeWay Research study analyzed messenger registration survey data for every annual meeting since 1980 for three major age groups: 18-39, 40-59 and 60-plus. 
• The study revealed that messengers ages 18-39 represented 33.6 percent of the total in 1980 but dropped to 13.1 percent by 2007. 
• The 40-59 group stayed fairly constant: 49.9 percent in 1980, compared to 51.6 percent in 2007. 
• Registrants age 60 and above accounted for 12.9 percent of the messengers in 1980, but 35.4 percent in 2007. 
• According to the research 40 percent of the messengers attending the convention have generally been senior pastors. 
• The proportion of those under 40 attending the SBC is down by more than 50 percent since the beginning of the Conservative Resurgence. 
• The highest year for 18-39 attendance was 35.9 percent at the 1985 meeting in Dallas, followed closely by 35.8 percent the next year in Atlanta, according to the data.
• By the 1992 meeting in Indianapolis, participation in that age group had dropped to 27.4 percent. 
• In the 2005 meeting in Nashville, participation in that age group fell to 16.1 percent. 
• The 60-plus age group did not consistently begin to break the 20 percent mark until the 1990 meeting in New Orleans (21.6 percent).  
• The 60-plus age group was 17.6 percent the year before at Indianapolis to 31.1 percent in Nashville.

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