But not everyone, Neal, can do that and put up with all of the drama that sometimes accompanies a church this size. We have a regular membership of about 17, members about 10, of whom attend each week. I have the privilege to have about children a week attend classes I oversee.
Our actions have been misunderstood through the years, sometimes fueled simply by jealousy. Now, 30 years later, they are all in ministry, some pastoring, some just volunteering, and still stay in touch with me. Again, keep up the good work and keep your eyes on the vision God gave YOU!
Our small church failed…. We were averaging about 50 people a week counting babies to pad the numbers, too! The church we merged into had about each week. The merger is 3. They had the building. I was NOT full time. Yet, in my heart, I want to see the church I am with grow into a large, effective ministry, touching the lives of thousands for the Kingdom. Is there something wrong with my desire?
Is there something wrong with me? I do pray that faith does not completely disappear from the United States. The sad fact is that it has had to come to this point for some to be jolted alive, to realize that there is a better way and it is possible to live in the system of a New testament church. These churches- where they exist- defy numbers.
Like the underground church in China, they are not bound by traditions of men or women, so are free to meet as the spirit leads- and yes, not forsaking meeting together. This church has been called The organic church, the simple church, and the like, but the truth is that it defies trendy labels. And that is a good thing. For more information, check out our brothers and sisters at thelastreformation. It seems entirely possible to me that approximately half the population is more comfortable and connected in a smaller congregation and the other half prefers a large congregation.
People are different. The question is whether faithful ministry is being done in sustainable ways. Now that probably throws of some numbers.
We were just having our church staff meeting and came across your post. Thank you very much. Added a lot of great insight. Pingback: A Pastor? No Way! Cindy Hochart's Blog. Pingback: The Rich and Holy contemporaryamericanreligion. Hey Scott, im a pastor and this was such a great article! Evangelical churches are more likely to be growing 42 percent than their mainline counterparts 34 percent.
Less than a quarter 23 percent of churches with an average worship attendance of fewer than 50 say they are growing, while most churches with or more in attendance 59 percent are growing. Among denominations, Holiness 56 percent and Baptist 45 percent pastors are more likely to say their churches are growing than Methodists 33 percent and Lutherans 25 percent.
The lack of growth in worship attendance in most churches is matched by a lack of new commitments to Christ last year. Fifty-four percent of pastors say fewer than 10 people indicated a new commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior in , including 8 percent who had none. In some ways, however, those numbers mask deeper evangelistic issues. When evaluating churches based on the number of conversions per attendees, 67 percent had fewer than 10 per people attending their church.
Forty-six percent of smaller churches fewer than 50 in worship services say they had 10 conversions or more for every in attendance, while only 18 percent of churches and above meet that benchmark.
While there are no major differences between evangelical and mainline churches in terms of new converts, denominational differences do exist. The calling list used a random sample stratified by church size, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Quotas were used to maintain the correct proportion of each church size.
Here are findings on the size of denominations, as well as the number and average size of congregations. Census vs Attendance Research Article. What proportion of people who identify with a Christian denomination attend church frequently? Church Attendance as a Percentage of the Australian Population. Counting Heads. That is the polar opposite of how we are to behave.
You want to get things right? I believe a great deal of that is related to two things. Which brings us back to 1. The heart of the Pastor can be seen by his love for the Word, and his love for his flock.
I think that church growth is divine not that we are not responsible for it. The one trap I see is that the smaller churches are trying to imitate bigger churches methodically and hope to land as a bigger sized church.
Just hope that we only stay on course to imitate Christ and let the church size be as it is divinely predestined. Featured Resources Tools for Your Church.
Tools for Your Church. On-Demand Video Course. The kit includes: Participant video course Leader training course Guides for in-person and virtual classes Downloadable templates. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Vernon Thiede says on. June 7, at am. Mo says on.
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