NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Southern Baptist churches baptized fewer people in 2008 for the fourth year in a row to reach the lowest level since 1987, and membership in the country's largest Protestant denomination fell slightly as well.

Baptisms dropped just over one percent to 342,198 last year, compared with 345,941 in 2007, according to an annual report released Thursday by LifeWay Christian Resources, the Southern Baptist Convention's publishing arm.

Total membership of Southern Baptist churches was 16,228,438 last year, down nearly 38,400 from 2007.

The continued decline in the number of followers reflects a trend in other mainline Protestant churches. Nondenominational churches are gaining and the ranks of those unaffiliated with a church are growing.

Baptism in the Southern Baptist church is a public act administered by the local church in which new members agree to follow Christ. They are a key measurement of the SBC's overall effectiveness in evangelism.

"The numbers simply tell us that Southern Baptists are not reaching as many people for Christ as they once did," said Thom S. Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay.

The Rev. Johnny M. Hunt, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., was elected SBC president last year and promised to make building up membership and baptism numbers a priority for the Nashville-based denomination.

The conservative Hunt said he would try to unite Baptists around common causes.