Comments on: Not By the Numbers http://www.witheringfig.com/ministry/not-by-the-numbers/ In principio erat Verbum... Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:53:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: stephen http://www.witheringfig.com/ministry/not-by-the-numbers/comment-page-1/#comment-697 stephen Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:29:07 +0000 http://www.witheringfig.com/2007/07/17/not-by-the-numbers/#comment-697 Judy, thanks for your comments. I just fear that attendance has become the only indicator of church vitality here in the United States. For me, the most "alive" church that I've been a part of was a small church of 30-40 people in Boston, Massachusetts. I appreciate your notes from down under! Judy, thanks for your comments. I just fear that attendance has become the only indicator of church vitality here in the United States. For me, the most “alive” church that I’ve been a part of was a small church of 30-40 people in Boston, Massachusetts.
I appreciate your notes from down under!

]]> By: Judy Redman http://www.witheringfig.com/ministry/not-by-the-numbers/comment-page-1/#comment-690 Judy Redman Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:54:03 +0000 http://www.witheringfig.com/2007/07/17/not-by-the-numbers/#comment-690 I think there are several points at which numbers matter. One is the point at which you have so many people that everyone except the rampant extroverts and those with significant personality disorders get lost in the crowd. Then you need to work out how to do small groups effectively so that relationships can be built. The other is when you get so small that there's no one much to relate to. The church I attend has an average attendance across all its Sunday services of about 80 people. I live in a rural town in Australia and the next church that I would be comfortable in is about 75 minutes drive away - 110 km or about 70 miles. In our town, most of the congregation likes traditional worship styles, traditional music and traditional ways of expressing their faith. The fact that they are really nice people doesn't make up for the fact that I (and my husband) have very little in common with them. We belong to a "family group", but most of the people in it want to do things that make us want to cringe. When I was in Texas recently, I attended one church with a membership of 5,000 and another with a membership of 10,000 and the breadth of different opportunities for expressing and growing your faith through the adult Sunday School programmes and different styles of worship was just astounding. Even living in a city where you can go to a church in the next suburb offers different opportunities. I'm not suggesting that we should be fixated on numbers for the sake of numbers - just saying that there are points where they do become significant I think there are several points at which numbers matter. One is the point at which you have so many people that everyone except the rampant extroverts and those with significant personality disorders get lost in the crowd. Then you need to work out how to do small groups effectively so that relationships can be built.

The other is when you get so small that there’s no one much to relate to. The church I attend has an average attendance across all its Sunday services of about 80 people. I live in a rural town in Australia and the next church that I would be comfortable in is about 75 minutes drive away – 110 km or about 70 miles. In our town, most of the congregation likes traditional worship styles, traditional music and traditional ways of expressing their faith. The fact that they are really nice people doesn’t make up for the fact that I (and my husband) have very little in common with them. We belong to a “family group”, but most of the people in it want to do things that make us want to cringe.

When I was in Texas recently, I attended one church with a membership of 5,000 and another with a membership of 10,000 and the breadth of different opportunities for expressing and growing your faith through the adult Sunday School programmes and different styles of worship was just astounding. Even living in a city where you can go to a church in the next suburb offers different opportunities.

I’m not suggesting that we should be fixated on numbers for the sake of numbers – just saying that there are points where they do become significant

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