numbers matter

June 8, 2010 in Church with 14 Comments

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One question:

When talking about church attendance, does the number of people matter?

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Perfect church

the thing

http://intensedebate.com/people/MarcoWill Marcus Williamson

Yes and no. It depends on how you look at it. Is focusing on the numbers for your Glory or Gods?
Jeff

We count the money in the offering. What is more important the money or the people.
http://twitter.com/darylhb @darylhb

It depends on the spiritual state of the individuals. The aim of the church is to strengthen and support each other in our walk with God – rather a small church where people have meaningful relationships with the Lord than a huge church with no spiritual depth.
My recent post Growing Restless
http://twitter.com/deborahruth @deborahruth

counting people matters because churches should be growing (unfortunately that is not the case for many churches now). Keeping attendance allows you to see how you are growing. But it is important to not only count the attendance but to also count the new commitments to Christ and Baptisms. You can have a church of 12,000 but if no one is coming to Christ or growing in Christ then what is the point?
http://intensedebate.com/profiles/danscott77 danscott77

numbers represent people touched by your ministry.

if people aren't coming through your doors, you have a problem.
if people are coming, but aren't being impacted you have another problem.

if you have an idea of the number of people NOT coming, it helps you plan and create ministry and missional opportunities to change that.

the fact is, numbers represent the effectiveness of your ministry. they are surely not an end in themselves, but they allow people in your ministry to know that what they are "bleeding" for is worth their time.

they matter.
My recent post Parenting | Train Up a Child
Jeff

I posted earlier but I wanted to add something. Here are how numbers matter.

If you have no first time guests, you are not evangelizing enough. If you do not have second and third time guests, then your follow-up stinks. If you are not having people go through your growth path and becoming members, your discipleship plan needs work. If your members do not serve or minister, your ministry system is bad. Numbers matter, but it's not the total number that matters, it is what the numbers tell you and what you do with the numbers that matter most.
http://intensedebate.com/profiles/hippieyouthpastor hippieyouthpastor

Personally, I don't care if people are coming in the door or not, what matters is what they do outside the doors.
http://intensedebate.com/profiles/tonyalicea tonyalicea

Sure numbers matter. Try Dunbar's number: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number

And for the mega churches who tout small/cell groups, what's the point of having thousands of members when you're only in community with 10-12? And what about those not connected in small groups? When it comes to authentic community, accountability and discipleship, smaller is better. If you're growing exponentially, you should be equipping the saints to plant new churches.
http://intensedebate.com/people/jackalopekid jackalopekid

interesting
http://intensedebate.com/people/jackalopekid jackalopekid

good stuff
http://intensedebate.com/people/jackalopekid jackalopekid

yes they do
http://intensedebate.com/people/jackalopekid jackalopekid

very true
http://intensedebate.com/people/jackalopekid jackalopekid

good stuff man
http://intensedebate.com/people/jackalopekid jackalopekid

good point

numbers matter

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