It's all in the numbers...or is it?
Recently, my attention was directed to a research project done by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research on megachurches. The basic idea of the research was to compile a list of all megachurches within the United States and to list their REPORTED numbers, as they were given to the team at HIRR. The method in which the numbers were compiled is detailed in the article and can accessed here. The criteria for being considered a "megachurch" for the purposes of this study is that the church in question must have had an average attendance of 2,000 people for two consecutive years. For the purposes of my readers, most of whom are in Kentucky, the list of those churches who reportedly match this criteria in Kentucky can be accessed here. What is interesting is the date that these numbers were supposedly in effect. A majority of those on the list have their numbers as being accurate as of February 2006.What is the point? The point is this: we cannot draw a strong conclusion that just because a church is larger than another that it is healthier, stronger, etc. Though this is true in a number of cases, this survey draws into question the very numbers that we hear reported so very often. For instance, how do we know that just because a church says they average 3000 (a strictly made-up number) in attendance that they actually have that many coming to their services and filling their pews. And, if we say that large churches are healthy, yet those very numbers are untrue...what does that say about the very health of that particular church.
For some, it is truly all in the numbers....and numbers can be, and very often are, an indicator of our effectiveness to some degree. But, shouldn't those numbers on which we are judging our effectiveness be an accurate representation of what is actually taking place within our churches? I pray that our integrity is greater than our desire to be impressive to others within the church world whom we may desire to impress.
As a disclaimer: These churches just might not be aware that these numbers were reported to this agency. It would be wise of them, and would show a great deal of integrity, to correct the numbers should they be seen as a misrepresentation of what is actually the truth.
So, check out the research and the numbers. Judge for yourself.
posted by Tim Morrison @ 3:29 PM
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