I remember when my senior pastor said: “I’m not into numbers”. At first I understood it as a statement suggesting priority on spiritual growth over numerical. As a compliant and zealous youth pastor I took the statement and quickly put it into practice. No attendance was to be taken, no heads counted… no numbers, it was easy to apply. However, the problem came when the elders asked why my year end report contained no numbers but only general statements about growth.
Biblically: “Numbers” does not have the negative connotation that my fellow pastor asserted. If one looks into the Bible you will see a book named Numbers. My first read through it was like reading the parts list for a Boeing 747. It was hard for me to keep interested and awake. Later as an administrative pastor, one thing impressed me about Numbers was that they kept track of their people. They knew who, where and how many. The early church also kept track as recorded in Acts. Even Jesus’ parable of the 99 sheep represented the value of each individual to him. Jesus makes it a point to know the “who, where and how many”.
Professionally: Accountability is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of attendance. When we know the “who, where and how many” we become accountable to those who are represented by those numbers. If I take a van load of teens to Mexico on a short term mission trip and pay attention only to their growth experience and not notice that I went down with twenty and came back with nineteen; do you think the parents of the missing teen will not hold me accountable? As leaders we must be diligent to keep the attendance of those that God entrust to us.
Secondly, keeping track of the numbers should speak more to the leadership than the congregation. When I see an Individual not attending each Sunday, I don’t write a letter and ask “What’s your problem?” instead I ask, “What’s our expectation, is it Biblical and what are we doing ?” Other questions you can ask are: “Is their lack of attendance systematic of: no follow-up, ministry done poorly or a misfit ministry.”
I am thankful to our LORD for allowing me the opportunity to help churches in the care and growth of their church through the service of ChurchOfficeOnline.com. When we began development of the Church Membership Online Program we began with the conviction that attendance was not just an added feature but central to the program. Numbers do count when you are feeding and caring for the flock. The best way to know the “who, what and where’ is to take individual attendance, doing so can lead to a healthier church.
Pastor Mike Smith, CMO Ministry Support
Church Office Online