"Although I’ve never heard this comment from a bishop, a pastor, or a church that was growing, a frequently heard comment in response to our Conference Priorities, from those who have limited their ministry to decline is, “So? It’s all about the numbers.”
Though I don’t see much indication that we have become infatuated with numbers (I was miserable at math in school) in our evaluation and deployment of our pastors, in our evaluation and leadership of our churches (most of our churches are still declining rather than growing) some question our historic Wesleyan focus on numbers of baptisms, attendance, membership, giving, and mission. The church is all about Jesus Christ and his mission. Are we now guilty of moving toward an “It’s all about numbers” posture?"
We loaded up our car for our annual family vacation. I had been clear with the family about our time of departure for the beach. Patsy had dutifully loaded the car. I had dutifully been clear about the time of departure. Harriet was there. Where was William?
“That does it. We’re leaving. He knew the time and yet he’s not here,” I said, in love.
“We can’t leave without him,” Patsy asserted. “How can you go on a family vacation without the whole family?”
I responded, “Look, we have one child who obeyed the rules, did as she was told, is punctual and obedient. Isn’t that good enough? Let’s go. Don’t worry about the other fifty-percent of our children.”
“We have two children. We are not going anywhere without everybody,” Patsy commanded, in love.
“One, two, whatever,” I responded. “So? It’s all about numbers! What difference does it really make whether we have all of our children or half of our children? The important thing is the quality of our family interaction on the vacation. This is about love, not numbers!” (adapted from the Annual Conference learning session with Mark DeVries)
In this interesting illustration, the numbers do matter! You don't want to leave a child behind...or do you? For sure, we don't want to obsess about numbers but they do give us an indication of where we might be doing well and where we need to pay more attention.
Annual Report
To this end, we handed out last Sunday our first-ever Annual Report of Deep River Friends. In it we have provided information regarding our receipts and expenditures for the past year as well as our budget for the coming year. We have included financial reports as well as reports regarding the work of our committees over the past year. Here are just some hightlights from the report:
- Average Worship Attendance for the past year - 122
- Average Sunday School Attendance for the past year - 48
- Average weekly Sunday offering - $3,010
- Average monthly Sunday offering - $$13,047
- Total Outreach Giving (Quaker and non-Quaker) - $44,846
- Total Sunday offerings for past year - $156,570
These are just a sampling of some of the information you will find in the Annual Report. In the report, you will also see what it is our committees do and how you can possibly serve within the meeting. I have been saying that there is more then enough ministry at Deep River Friends for one or more committees to do - we need everyone! Even if you are not on a committee, we need your servant heart. Consider where God might be calling you to serve.
Sermon Series Continues - "Getting Unstuck"
This Sunday I will continue my sermon series on "getting unstuck". This Sunday we will look at getting unstuck from patterns in our life. In other words, we pattern our life in certain ways and usually based on our upbringing and on past experiences. Some of these patterns serve us well and some of them don't. We need to discern what patterns we can keep and what patterns we need to change. How we pattern our life can greatly determine our fruitful...and even successful...we can become.
Hope everyone is having a great week. Feel free to check out my other blog at www.thegrowingedge.blogspot.com
Blessings,
Scott
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